Worth a Thousand Words
by AnonymooseAu
Summary: Marty has, with Jennifer's help, come up with the perfect gift for his parents' 30th Wedding Anniversary. The problem? They have to go 3 days into the future to get it..and even with a time machine, things don't always go as planned.
1. Chapter 1

FRIDAY 12TH AUGUST 1988

2:45PM

* * *

_Shit! Why am I __**always**__ late?! _Marty McFly groaned inwardly as he ran at full tilt.

He had, of course, been on time **once**, but that was with his life at stake! Although right now he was pretty close!

The sight of his 4x4 in the distance made him breathe a sigh of a relief, salvation at last!

He almost fell flat on his face just before reaching it.

"Crap!"

The passenger's side door opened and Marty looked up to see his girlfriend, Jennifer, leaning across the seat, a smile on her face. "Smooth moves as always, mister." She greeted him.

He gave her a look, before straightening up and climbing in. "It's good to see you too, Jen."

Jennifer dropped a kiss on his cheek. "Only fifteen minutes late too, a new record."

"Hey, cut me some slack, I'm at college in the middle of vacation! I'm surprised the world hasn't ended yet!"

Jennifer laughed as she put the truck into gear. "It **is** pretty amazing… _Guniness Book_ hasn't called yet, though?"

"Nah, someone must be lying down on the job."

"So how did it go?" Jennifer asked as she looked over her shoulder to make sure the way was clear before reversing. "You're looking very stylish."

Marty made a face as he smoothed down his tie. "Yeah sure."

"No, I'm serious, you look great," Jennifer insisted. "Gray's really your colour."

"But a **suit**?" Marty groaned.

"Even aspiring rock stars need to look good," Jennifer pointed out.

"Yeah, because the guys from _Def Leppard_ walk around dressed like this all the time."

Jennifer shook her head, and brought the truck to a stop as they reached the exit of the Hill County University parking lot. "So where we headed, mister?"

"Twin Pines…" he began, then corrected himself. "I mean, Lone Pine Mall, I need to buy my parents a present for their Wedding Anniversary."

"Awww," Jennifer cooed and gave him a sappy smile. "When is it?"

"Er…today…five pm," Marty said sheepishly.

"**What?!**" Jennifer gasped. "**Today**?! Marty, how come you didn't say anything?!"

"I forgot! I had a lot on my mind!"

"How could you forget that? Your own parents!"

"Hey come on, Jen, we're only celebrating because it's a special one…usually it wouldn't matter."

Jennifer gave a sigh of frustration, but thankfully decided not to press the point "What Anniversary is it?"

"Thirtieth – take the left turn here, we'll get there faster." He told her, noticing that she hadn't made a move to.

"I know how to get there," Jennifer huffed, flicking on the indicator. "Thirty years, huh? So, they were only twenty when they got married?"

"Yeah, can you believe it?" Marty shook his head. "They weren't even outta college yet!"

"Well, things **were** different back then."

"You don't have to tell **me!**" Marty laughed and Jennifer joined in. She certainly didn't need to tell him, since Marty had had first hand experience of the fifties!

"But your mom got her degree and everything, that's pretty cool. A lot of women dropped out once they got married."

"Yeah, but when Mom makes up her mind…"

Jennifer gave him a wink. "Don't give me that, I know you like your women strong."

"**Woman**," Marty corrected, "you're the only one for me after all."

"Well, it looks like your folks' anniversary is making **you** quite the romantic."

Marty made a show of looking affronted. "Are you suggesting I'm not **always** your knight in shining armour?"

Jennifer raised an eyebrow. "Well, I don't really feel like a queen when you're spending hours strumming away on your guitar with the rest of the _Pinheads_."

With a sly grin, Marty gave a shrug. "We can't be perfect all the time."

"Oh, Heaven forbid."

* * *

The mall was a lot more crowded than usual, or at least that was how it seemed to Marty and the fact he had **no** idea what to get his parents didn't make things much easier.

"Why'd I leave this to the last minute, Jen?" He moaned. "This sucks!"

"Come on, Marty there's heaps of stores here, there's got to be **one** that has the perfect present." Jennifer cajoled.

"I'd settle for a **decent** present, Jen, what the Hell are you supposed to get people for their Thirtieth Wedding Anniversary anyway?"

"Pearl or diamond."

"What?"

"Traditionally the thirtieth wedding anniversary gift is pearl," Jennifer told him, pulling in close as a large group of boys squeezed past them. "But diamond is considered more modern."

Marty shook his head. "How do you know so much about it?"

Jennifer blushed. "Um…well…Grandma went on a big etiquette kick with me for a while…you know…"

Marty wasn't sure if he believed it, but that didn't matter too much. "Pearls or diamonds, huh? Whoever came up with that obviously wasn't a college student, have you got any idea how much diamonds **cost**, even the tiny ones?"

Jennifer gave him a sly look. "Have you been looking at diamonds lately or something?"

Now it was Marty's turn to blush. "What? No, of course not…I just...well it's pretty obvious they'd cost a lot, right?"

Jennifer gave chin a soft tap. "Just teasing. But look Marty your parents aren't going to expect that sort of gift from you, they might not even be expecting one at all."

Marty sighed. "Yeah, I wish, but I only remembered the party was on tonight 'cause Dave and Linda mentioned it this morning when we were all talking on the phone."

"What are they getting them?"

"Dave, if you can believe it, has got 'em a set of His and Hers watches!"

Jennifer whistled. "That sounds expensive!"

"Yeah, he just got a big promotion at work, so he can afford it."

"I'm sure your folks will understand that you don't have as much money as your brother. What about Linda?"

"She wouldn't tell us, it's a surprise…probably something she made herself. You can bet it's gonna be good too, if I tried the best I could do would be a couple of popsicle stick men."

"Oh, come on, it wouldn't be that bad," Jennifer protested, when Marty looked sceptical, she added. "Well, it'd be cute…at least **I** think so…"

"Yeah, yeah, well, I don't even have time to make that, so we gotta get 'em something store bought."

"'We'?"

Marty couldn't quite meet her eyes. "Well, yeah…I mean, I figure, we're a couple, so…"

Jennifer gave him a tight squeeze. "Oh, that's so sweet!"

"Yeah…besides two heads are better than one and I won't have to go broke buyin' 'em something on my own."

Jennifer pouted. "Hmpf!"

"And because I love you, of course," he gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "You always have the best ideas for presents."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Jennifer conceded, then thought for a moment. "But actually Marty, I'm not really sure either…do your parents' collect anything? Like _Humble_ figurines or something?"

Marty looked at her in disbelief. "They've got **taste**, Jen…at least now."

"A lot of people like _Humble _figurines, Grandma has heaps of them."

"Well, it's OK for your grandma, but I don't think they're my parents' thing."

"How about stationary with their names on it, then? You know _From the Desk of Mr and Mrs McFly_ or something? That's sweet."

"Hmmm," Marty looked indecisive. "Sounds OK…but it'd take a week to get it done wouldn't it?"

"A month, actually."

Marty considered asking how she knew that, but shrugged it off. "I kinda wanna give 'em something tonight."

"You could give them an I.O.U."

"Be serious, Jen! I don't want 'em to think I don't care."

"Oh, they won't think that," Jennifer protested.

"Maybe not, but I'd feel weird if Dave and Linda give 'em something and they're all looking at me and I have to say _'Raincheck?'_ I really should have remembered, I mean Mom goes on and on about her and Dad's first date, their engagement, their wedding."

Jennifer got that sappy look on her face again. "That's so sweet…"

But Marty's mind was racing, he suddenly had an idea for the **perfect** gift!

"Eureka!"

It was loud enough that a couple of people nearby turned, Jennifer also gave him a strange look.

"Comes from hangin' around Doc," Marty admitted with a grin. "I just figured out what we can get them."

"That was quick, Doctor Brown **has** helped you out."

"If you're gonna be like that, maybe I won't tell you what it is," Marty folded his arms.

Jennifer laughed and hugged him. "Oh come on, Marty, I was kidding, come on, tell me what it is, I'm sure it's a great idea!"

"Well, Mom's always going on about this particular photo of Dad and her at their Wedding Reception, about how she's always wanted a nicer frame for it, but she's never got around to it. I think she's hinting that Dad should do it, but well Dad can be kinda oblivious."

"Sounds like someone I know," Jennifer gave him a wink.

"But how about we do him **and** her a favour and get it done for them! There's that one hour engraving place here, we can have it all done in time for the party!"

Jennifer's eyes sparkled. "That **is** a great idea! The engraving place is just a few stores down too."

Marty shook his head. "You know that, but you still get lost on the way to college?"

"I do **not!**" Jennifer protested, then relented. "Well, I haven't lately…"

Marty chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders.

True to Jennifer's word, a few seconds later they arrived at _Say It!_, which not only offered the engraving service, but a wide range of things to engrave on.

The two made a beeline for the photo frame section.

"Oh wait, do you have any idea what size we're looking for?" Jennifer turned to him.

"Actually I do, since another thing Ma likes to go on about is how **big** the photo is…nineteen by thirteen, who gets a photo that big?"

"Wow, that kind of limits our choices to the frames up there," Jennifer pointed to the ones in question, which were beyond both their reach.

"Damn," Marty cursed, "I hate getting help."

"Oh, come on Marty," Jennifer gave him a slightly disappointed look. "There's no need t be embarrassed about it."

"I'm not embarrassed, I just hate getting a sales pitch."

Jennifer didn't look entirely convinced, but since there wasn't much else he could do, Marty called one of the sales people over.

"For a nineteen by thirteen you say, very impressive."

_Oh, here we go,_ Marty rolled his eyes.

But the salesman surprised him. "We actually have a catalogue you can look through, it'll be quite a bit easier, besides we don't have all the frames on display. Come this way." He led them over to the catalogue and actually went off to serve other customers.

"Man, either they're making a killin' in this place, or he hasn't got the talk yet." Marty muttered under his breath.

Jennifer gave him a good natured swat on the arm before turning to the frame section of the catalogue. Marty looked over her shoulder, but the frames all pretty much looked the same to him.

But Jennifer didn't agree, she gasped. "Marty look, it's perfect!" She pointed to one.

"It's nice…"

Jennifer gave him a look. "You have no idea what it is, do you?"

Marty shrugged. "I'm a guy."

"It's a silver frame with a pearl inlay! Perfect for a Thirtieth Wedding Anniversary. Your mother will love it!" She moved aside so Marty could take a better look.

"Hey, that's pretty neat and it doesn't even cost a mint." He remarked taking in the price. "Excuse me," he looked over at the girl at the far end of the counter, she came over.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'd like to get this frame," Marty pointed, "and an engraving too."

The girl took a quick look. "We've got the frame in stock, but if you want it engraved it won't be ready 'til Monday."

"What?" Marty demanded. "But the sign –" he pointed to it.

The girl shook her head and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but the engraver went home sick yesterday, he says he'll be back in Monday, but there's nothing I can do until then."

"Damn it," Marty cursed under his breath. He couldn't believe it! Of all the luck!

"Um…do you still want it?" The girl looked rather pale, obviously thinking he was angry at her.

"It'll be a great gift, Marty," Jennifer whispered to him, "we don't need to get engraved," she pointed out.

Marty shook his head. "I really want to get it engraved, I even know what I want it to say."

"Well, that's OK, I mean your parents' will still love it, even if we do have to give it to them a little late."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he mumbled back, then spoke to the girl, telling her what he wanted the engraving to say and putting down a deposit.

But as the two left the store empty handed, Marty felt like kicking himself.

_After everything, you'd think I'd have learnt to do things on time!_

_

* * *

  
_

"I don't know why you're so bummed," Jennifer remarked as the two drove out of the parking lot of Lone Pines Mall, Marty behind the wheel. "It's not like your parents are going to tell you _'Too late, we don't want it'_. Things like this happen."

"I know, it's just…I still feel weird sometimes…around my family. It's been almost three years and I remember **most** of what happened this time around, but yeah, sometimes I wonder if I really fit in with them."

"Of course you do, Marty!" Jennifer gave him a sympathetic look. "In fact they've got you to thank for how they are!"

He gave a wry grin. "Maybe **that** could be their present. I could just say _'Hey, Mom, Dad, guess what, if Doc hadn't sent me back in time you'd be a bunch of losers. Happy Anniversary!'_"

Jennifer giggled. "I'd like to see their faces if you did, but Dr. Brown would **kill** you."

At that moment, Marty's new car phone (a gift from his parents for his 20th birthday) rang, reaching out Marty tapped the speaker button.

"Yo!"

"Ah, Marty, I'm glad I finally got onto you," as if he had heard them talking about him Doc's voice filtered through the speaker.

"Hey, Doc, what's up?"

"I need your help, can you come over to the house right away?"

Marty took a look at the clock on the dashboard (which was always right as opposed to his own watch) – 3:43pm.

"I gotta be somewhere at five," he began.

"That's fine," Doc interjected, he sounded pretty frazzled.

"Is there a problem, Doc?"

"There is, but I don't want to say what it is on a car phone," Doc's voice was almost a whisper.

Jennifer shot Marty a look, but he shrugged and smiled reassuringly, trust Doc to be a bit paranoid. "OK, Doc, Jen's with me, and we're on our way."

"Oh, hello Jennifer," Doc said absent-mindedly.

"Hey, Dr. Brown."

"I'll see you two in…what…ten minutes?"

"Sure thing, Doc."

With that Doc hung up and Marty turned off the main road heading for Doc's house, which was out of town.

"What do you think he wants?" Jennifer asked. "You don't think Clara or the boys are in trouble?"

"Nah," Marty shook his head. "He'd have sounded a lot more worried."

As Doc had predicted within ten minutes, the Brown's farmhouse appeared on the horizon, the gate was open so Marty drove the 4x4 right through towards the barn. Or at least that's what it looked like, in reality the barn was Doc's lab and there was a heap of hi-tech stuff in there, things the world had never seen and wouldn't for years to come.

Doc appeared as Marty put the truck in park, he hurried up to them waving his arms rather frantically.

"You **sure** he's all right?" Jennifer gave Marty a worried look.

Doc though had pulled the driver's side door open before Marty had a chance to respond.

"Marty! Jennifer! It's good to see you," he greeted them in a rush and grabbed hold of Marty's arm.

"Good to see you too, Doc," Marty couldn't help chuckling at his friend's energy. He unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the truck only to be almost pulled off his feet as Doc dragged him towards the barn.

"How's everyone goin', Doc?" Marty asked as he was pulled across the paddock.

"Fine, Marty, fine."

Marty was surprised by the brush off, before whenever he visited Doc he always said hello to the Brown Family. Doc was, unsurprisingly, deeply proud of his family, it wasn't very often a man of sixty-five got a chance at having a family, especially not with a woman born over a hundred years ago

Jennifer caught up to them as they reached the door, where Doc entered a code, pressed his thumb to a plate and allowed his eyes to be scanned. There was a click and the door swung open.

"Wow, Doc, impressive," Marty whistled.

"Precautions have to be taken, we all know what damage can be caused if the DeLorean falls into the wrong hands."

Doc didn't need to tell Marty, he'd gone through it all first hand!

"So what's up Doc?" He asked, then grinned.

Doc gave him a sour look. "Very funny, Marty."

"Oh, come on, it's a classic!"

Doc cracked a smile, but quickly looked serious again. "There's a problem with the DeLorean."

Marty and Jennifer quickly looked towards it, the car, sleeky, sporty and of shiny silver, almost identical to the original that had been smashed to pieces almost three years ago, looked totally fine, there wasn't even so much as a scratch on it.

"Err…can you give us a hint?" Marty finally asked after a moment.

"Why don't you open the door?" Doc offered.

Marty gave him a look. "Didn't you say you had some anti-theft thing installed…I'd rather not be electrocuted."

"You'll be fine," Doc assured him, "just open the door."

Marty didn't really think it would open, but he trusted Doc enough to figure at least he wouldn't be killed trying to do it.

But the gull wing door swung open easily.

"Now try and turn on the time circuits," Doc prompted.

Marty shook his head, no way would that work, the only people who could turn the time circuits on were Doc and Clara. He figured he'd give it a try though, and to his shock the three LCD panels lit up.

"What the –" Marty turned to his friend, but Doc had turned to Jennifer.

"Try and open Mr. Fusion."

Jennifer gave Doc a rather uncertain look, but did so, the device, which looked more a blender than anything else, opening easily.

"Doc, what gives? I thought you'd made this thing like Fort Knox."

"Just look at this," Doc said as if he hadn't heard, taking a small device out of his pocket. He pointed it at the DeLorean and pressed a few buttons.

Before their eyes the DeLorean suddenly looked completely different, like a normal sports car.

"Holy shit, Doc, how'd you –"

Suddenly the image began to flicker, bits and pieces of the time machine showing through until the whole image fizzed out.

"All the security devices placed on the outside of the DeLorean stopped working after the last trip the boys and I took to see their grandparents…I didn't calibrate them for time travel, I wasn't all that certain I'd need to. They worked for a while…" Doc shook his head. "As for the security measures located **inside** the DeLorean, seems their breaking down was just a coincidence, either way I need to get them repaired, but I can only do that by going to the necessary time periods."

"Uh-huh," Marty didn't see where this was going.

"But seeing as there's no way to secure the DeLorean, I'm going to need someone to keep guard over the time machine while I do this. I can't take the boys, they're too young to be left on their own and Clara can't come because…" he trailed off.

"Because why?" Marty prompted.

"Err…well," Doc's cheeks reddened. "You see…she's pregnant."

Jennifer gave a small cry of delight and Marty's eyes widened.

"No way! Get outta town, Doc!"

"I'm quite serious."

Marty gave his friend a quick hug. "Congratulations! When did you find out?"

"About two months ago-"

"And you didn't say anything?"

"It's considered bad luck to say anything **too** soon," Jennifer spoke up.

Marty looked at her in surprise. _How the Hell would she know __**that**__?_ He wondered, but then brushed it aside, turning back to Doc. "You don't believe in luck, though," he pointed out, then added slyly. "You're a man of science."

Doc rolled his eyes. "I am, but Jennifer is right in one sense, the first few weeks are precarious, we didn't want to jump the gun too soon. But everything's coming along fine now…but as you can imagine we don't want to take any chances."

"Yeah, of course, but Doc," Marty looked over at Jennifer. "We can't come, at least not now, it's my folks' Wedding Anniversary Party tonight, we can't miss it –"

"Marty, you're not thinking fourth dimensionally!" Doc admonished him. "It'll take us a few hours, but as far as 1988 is concerned we'll be back just ten minutes after we leave."

"Oh yeah," Marty shook his head, even after everything, he had trouble with that.

But suddenly he thought of something…the photo frame.

He'd thought of it briefly back at the store, but he'd known Doc would never agree to it. The DeLorean and Time Train weren't used too often and certainly not for trips only a few days into the future, Doc was adamant it was too dangerous and Marty had agreed…sort of.

But now that he was doing Doc a favour.

"Still…a couple of hours, that'll throw our body clocks way off," Marty began, a look of uncertainty on his face.

Doc gave him an incredulous look. "It won't be that bad, Marty."

"Still…I know my folks want everyone bright eyed…I don't even have a present for 'em."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Doc seemed rather distracted. "But I can't really help-" then it dawned on him. "Marty," he began in his best 'lecture' tone. "You know the time machine isn't a toy. Like I said, I'm sorry you don't have a present for your parents –"

"But I do, the problem is Doc, it won't be ready until Monday."

"That's not too long to wait."

"Come on, Doc, Jen and I are doing you a favour, can't you help us out? I don't even have to be the one who gets it! I can give you the pick up slip and the cash and **you** can get it."

Doc looked completely unconvinced.

"I know it doesn't seem too much and maybe I'm being dumb, but I **really** want to be able to give my folks their present on the actual **day**. I've only really know my family for three years, but they've been a Hell of a lot better to me than my original one. I want 'em to know I care."

Doc sighed and ran a hand through his wild hair. "All right, all right, I'll pick up the photo frame for you. But because you're my friend, not because I feel guilt for throwing off your circadian rhythm." He shook his head. "You honestly thought I'd fall for that?"

Marty shrugged and grinned. "Hey, it was worth a try…"

Doc looked as if he was about to make a retort, but the door to the barn opened.

"Emmett?"

It was Clara, who still looked a little out of place in 20th century clothes despite the fact the Browns had been back in the 80s for nearly two years. She also looked rather pale.

Doc noticed too and immediately hurried to her side. "Are you all right, dear?"

Clara mopped her brow with a handkerchief from her pocket. "There's nothing quite like morning sickness…especially when it doesn't show up in the morning."

Doc put an arm around her. "Do you want me to postpone the security repairs?"

Marty inwardly prayed that Clara wouldn't say yes, not after he'd made a deal with Doc.

"No, no," Clara shook her head, then looked as if she regretted it. "I just wanted to say hello to Marty and Jennifer." She looked over at them and smiled.

"Hey," Marty waved.

Jennifer meanwhile came over and took her hand. "Congratulations on the baby, Mrs. Brown."

"Thank you," Clara smiled, "and please, I've told you, there's no need to call me Mrs. Brown."

"Oh, um…of course, Clara," Jennifer looked a little uncomfortable saying it though.

"We won't be long," Doc assured his wife. "Well at least not to you."

"I'm going to lie down actually, so I probably won't see you two when you get back."

"Hey, that's fine," Marty reassured her, Clara was still a late 19th century woman at heart (and probably always would be) and took hospitality very seriously. "You get all the rest you need, it's good to see you though."

"Well, you've been brushing up on your manners, haven't you, Master McFly," Clara teased.

Marty shrugged and Jennifer gave him a sly look.

"I've had him on a training program," she told Clara, who laughed.

"Well, be careful," she told them, before giving Doc a quick peck on the cheek.

"You have a good rest," Doc responded, squeezing her shoulder and then letting her go.

As the door swung shut behind her, he turned to Jennifer and Marty and rubbed his hands together.

"All right then, it's time to put this into action."


	2. Chapter 2

The triple sonic booms that signalled the DeLorean's arrival in… whenever it was…echoed in Marty's ears.

He peered around Jennifer trying to see where they were.

Like the original DeLorean, this new one had undergone a hover conversion. It'd had taken less than ten seconds after taking off through the hatch on the barn's roof to get it up to 88 miles an hour and into, what Marty assumed, was the future.

Doc though, had covered the time circuits, and as they were high above the clouds, there wasn't a single hint of when the Hell they were.

Doc was wearing a pair of mirrored sunglasses that made it impossible to see his eyes, Marty found them rather unsettling.

"Well, did we make it, Doc?"

"Of course we did," Doc murmured in response, his attention taken up by the watch he wore, which he was making inputs in.

"When are we then?"

Doc flipped the glasses up onto the top of his head. "Nice try, Marty, but its better you and Jennifer **don't** know. It's of no interest to you two, anyway, you'll be guarding the DeLorean."

"Aww, come on Doc-"

Doc shook his head. "I want you two to shut your eyes and not open them until I tell you."

"Doc," Marty groaned. "We're not babies, right Jen?" He turned towards his girlfriend to see she already had her eyes squeezed shut.

"Marty," Doc looked at him seriously. "I'm asking you as your best friend."

"Damn," Marty cursed, that was a low tactic he thought, but squeezed his eyes shut nonetheless.

After about five minutes the DeLorean began descending and a minute after that there was the whirling sound of the DeLorean's wheels unfolding and the car gave a slight shudder as it landed.

"Can we open our eyes up now?" Marty demanded, impatiently.

"Yep." There was the sound of the driver's side gull wing door opening.

"Hey can we open **our** door, Doc?"

"Are you saying I'm heavy?" Jennifer asked.

"Nah, I'm just cramped up," Marty told her, knowing better than to make a joke about a woman's weight.

"That's fine, that's fine," Doc called from the front of the DeLorean, where he had opened the hood and was going through the contents.

With no small amount of relief Marty opened the passenger side door and ushered Jennifer out of his lap and got out himself.

But there wasn't so much as a hint of when they were. Doc had landed the time machine in a wooded area.

"All right," Doc a briefcase in hand, and a wide-brimmed hat pulled low on his brow, closed the hood of the DeLorean. "All I need you and Jennifer to do is wait here. I won't be long." He set the briefcase on top of the DeLorean and opened it. "If you think anyone or anything is coming use this." He pulled out a gun.

Jennifer gasped and Marty instinctively jumped in front of her. "Holy shit, Doc! A gun! Jeeze!"

"Relax, Marty, it's not a gun…it's a sleep-inducing alpha-rhythm generator."

"That doesn't look like the one you had before," Marty objected.

"It isn't, this one is ten times more powerful, it's range is a hundred feet, so you'll be able to stop anyone well before they become too much of a threat."

Marty was still dubious, but he took the gun – **sleep-generator** rather.

"I'll be about half an hour," Doc assured turning and heading into the woods before Marty could ask anymore questions.

"Well that's just great," he threw up his arms and turned to Jennifer. "This is **exactly** how I wanted to spend my afternoon."

"Oh, come on, Marty, it's not that bad…it's pretty nice out here actually." Jennifer looked about. "And quiet."

Marty's lips curved into a smile and he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Yeah, quiet's good." He drawled leaning in for a kiss.

* * *

With the help of his watch Doc reached the main road on the edge of Oak Forest very quickly and as calculated a hover bus arrived within the minute.

He swiped a card through the scanner which beeped and told him he had seven more rides left on his card and headed down to the very back of the bus, keeping the hat down low, fortunately he didn't have to worry about offending the driver because there wasn't one, all public transport was now automated.

Doc took a look out the window as the Hill Valley of 2038 came into view, a lot of it looked much the same as the 2015 version, but here and there was technology advanced beyond any eighties scientists' wildest dreams.

The hover bus came to the stop in front of the Courthouse Mall, the clock still on 10:04, a fact that never failed to amuse Doc no matter how many times he saw it in his travels.

He headed down the underground levels of the mall heading straight for _Hide Away_, where he'd purchased the cloaking device.

The girl behind the counter greeted him as he entered.

"Welcome to _Hide Away_, how can I help you?"

"Hello," Doc greeted her, setting the briefcase on the counter. "I brought a holographic generator a few weeks ago and I'm afraid it isn't working."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir, they're usually really good, but let's have a look."

He handed the small unit to her and she took it over to a machine behind the counter, inserting the unit into it and twisting a few knobs.

"Hmmm…looks like the projection unit has been scrambled, you haven't been near any strong electro-magnetic fields lately?"

_Well, that explains that,_ Doc made a mental note.

"There were reports of lobos in the neighbourhood," he said out loud.

The girl shook her head. "Yeah, some of 'em have got magnetising guns, the company is thinking of making electro-magnetic shielding standard." She explained. "We can have this fixed and the shielding installed by tomorrow."

"I'd appreciate that," he began, suddenly there was a beeping noise.

"Oh sorry, that's my phone," the girl apologised, "do you mind-?"

"Go ahead," Doc told her.

She turned away and tapped her ear. "Hey, this is Beth, make it snappy." She greeted whoever was on the other end. To someone not well versed in time travel it looked very unsettling, but Doc was aware that it wasn't bionic implants, the girl had a tiny mobile set on her earrings.

Doc hadn't planned to eavesdrop, in fact he'd moved away from the counter to browse, but he was the only patron in the store and the girls' voice carried.

"I'm just kidding, Ma, of course I don't answer the phone like that all the time…And yeah I'll be finished in time for the party tonight. I told the boss about it weeks ago…and even if I hadn't, he'd let me go, I mean come on, how often is it that your great-grandparents celebrate their Wedding Anniversary."

_Coincidence…_ he told himself, shaking his head.

"Plus the boss is like the **biggest** fan of Great-Gramps's novels," Beth continued. "Actually…I kinda said I'd get him an autograph…Yeah, I know, but Great-Gramps doesn't mind…I know, I know he's a hundred years old, but that's not what it used to be…He told me so himself."

_**Definitely**__ not a coincidence,_ Doc realised, his heart rate picking up, he couldn't believe it! Of all the people to run into…one of the McFly's descendants.

But she hadn't recognised **him**, thank God for that! It could have raised all sorts of awkward questions.

"Sorry about that," the girl called to him. "That was my mother."

"Say no more," Doc held up a hand, remembering his own mother's tendency to ramble on the phone. That aside, he didn't want to spend any longer than he had to in the store. If was quite possible that Beth was the grand-daughter of one of Marty's siblings and as such wouldn't know him as well as any of Marty's direct ancestors would, but he didn't want to take that chance.

"Do you have a receipt?" Beth asked. "It's still under warranty, the electro-magnetic shielding will be extra, but the repair will be free."

"I do," Doc nodded, pulling out the clear blue receipt and handing it over. "Do you need a deposit for the shielding?"

"Ten percent, please," she said before giving him the overall price.

Pulling out some cash (thank God all the predictions of a cashless society hadn't come to pass) he handed it over.

"Man, you hardly see this anymore," she remarked as she passed it through another machine. "Paper money's cool though, Grandpa collects it."

Doc smiled. "There's something to be said for the classic way," then added. "It'll be ready to pick up tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yep, just hand this slip over," Beth told him, handing over the clear blue plastic receipt.

"Thank you very much, have a good day."

With that he hurried off, wiping his brow in no small amount of relief.

Now, all that was needed was a quick trip to the next day.

Another hover bus was arriving as he emerged from the lower levels.

_Thank God they finally got public transport right…_

* * *

Marty and Jennifer had practically forgotten where they were, when the sound of rustling leaves surprised them.

Jumping apart Marty grabbed up the sleep-generator from where he had let it drop beside him and pointed it.

Just as Doc emerged into view.

"Great Scott!"

Marty dropped his arm. "Sorry, Doc…we…ah…" he shot a look at Jennifer who was smoothing down her hair. "You said to be careful."

"Hmmmm," Doc gave him a look that clearly indicated that he didn't believe that. "Well, we have to go a day forward, the device I dropped in won't be ready 'til then."

"Jeeze, Doc, could you be more specific?"

He shook his head. "You really don't need to know."

Rolling his eyes, Marty climbed back into the DeLorean and Jennifer sat on his lap, while Doc opened briefcase taking out a small sachet that he threw into Mr. Fusion. Ten minutes later the three were a day in the future, not that it made much difference to Marty, the woods looked the same.

Once Doc disappeared he turned to Jennifer. "This is such a drag, I mean we don't even get to **do **anything."

Folding her arms, Jennifer pouted. "Well, I'm sorry making out was so boring."

"Er…well…I didn't mean that…it's just," he gave a shrug. "Come on, aren't you a little bored?"

"It's only been half an hour, I swear, you have the shortest attention span."

Marty didn't argue with that, instead he went back to the DeLorean and took a look behind the seats.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, who knows what Doc's got in here."

"You just go through other people's cars, Marty!" Jennifer objected.

"Hey, Doc's a friend," Marty replied, as he felt under the seat, his fingers finding something. "Hey, look at this!" He exclaimed pulling out a bag.

"Marty…" Jennifer said warningly, "you're not going to look in there, are you?"

"Jeeze, Jen, it's not like it's his porn stash or something."

Jennifer screwed up her nose in distaste. "Ewww, Marty."

"Hey, the Doc's a guy like any other," he pointed out, opening the bag. "Hey, I think this is for Jules and Verne."

"Huh?"

"There's games in here," Marty pulled out a travel-sized version of _Scrabble_, then of _Clue._ At the bottom of the bag though was what seemed to be a small hard rectangular box. "What the Hell…?"

He pulled it out, it was light grey, with a small screen and buttons and written beneath the screen were the words: _Game Boy Advanced_, it looked like a handheld game, but not like any Marty had seen before. "Holy crap, I think it's from the future!" He waved it in Jennifer's direction.

"Well, put it back," Jennifer looked about as if expecting Doc to reappear and tell them off. "Doc wouldn't want you looking at it."

"Hey, if Jules and Verne can use it," Marty turned it over, there was a cartridge in the back and on the side a switch, which he flicked, the screen flickering to life.

"Hey, _Donkey Kong_ cool! And look at these graphics!" He took them in, eyes wide. It didn't take too long for him to figure out how to get into the game and before long he was playing away.

"Marty," Jennifer came over to him. "You really shouldn't look at that…" But looking over his shoulder her eyes widened as well. "Wow, it looks just like a TV show…if it was in black and white that is."

"This is cool," Marty cheered, throwing Jennifer a smile. "I guess babysitting the DeLorean ain't so bad after all."

* * *

Doc was relieved to see that Beth wasn't working, instead it was a young man behind the counter.

"Hey, how you going?" He greeted Doc.

"Fine, thank you," he smiled and pulled out the blue receipt from his pocket. "I dropped a holographic generator to be repaired yesterday."

The man took the receipt and ran it under a scanner. "Hold on a sec," he held up a finger and headed into the back room, returning a moment later, the holographic generator in hand. "You did a real number on this thing, man, what 'chu do? Go through the magnetic poles?"

He wasn't too far off, but Doc certainly wasn't going to offer that information. "Some lobos, God knows what they managed to pull."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that, when they say electro-magnetic shielding, they mean it. You could take this thing to the sun, and it'd still work. You'd be dead of course," he shrugged, "but it'd still work."

Doc raised an eyebrow. "That's solid workmanship."

"The rest of the balance comes to one thousand seven hundred."

Reminding himself that that was a **very** good price for 2038, Doc got the rest of the cash out of his wallet and handed it over.

Placing the generator back in the briefcase and glad things ran so smoothly in the future, wished the man a good day, left the store.

He hoped Marty and Jennifer would still be decent by the time he got back to the DeLorean.

"Man how many levels does this thing have?" Marty muttered to himself, his thumbs were beginning to hurt. He was sitting against the DeLorean, Jennifer had climbed into the passenger seat and had nodded off.

The only other handheld game he'd played only had three levels and he'd finished it in about ten minutes. Obviously, games from the future were a lot more complex.

Not to mention a lot harder, he kept falling off the damn ropes in this thing…

He was about to get past the section he'd wasted three lives on, he was so close.

"Marty, what are you doing?!"

"Argh!" Marty gave a jump and dropped the _Game Boy_. He scrambled to his feet, grabbing up the sleep-generator. "Doc, hey…"

"Where in the name of Sir Isaac Newton did you get that?" Doc bent down and picked up the game.

"Uh…well…there wasn't anything to do, you know and it was in a bag…"

"You're supposed to be on the look out," Doc shook his head. He looked over at Jennifer, who was blinking her eyes groggily. "You two aren't taking this very seriously."

"Hey, nobody's stolen it yet," Marty folded his arms. "Give us a break."

Doc sighed and handed the _Game Boy_ back. "I suppose if the boys can play with it, you can too, but at least turn the sound down so you can hear if someone's sneaking up on you."

"Fair enough. Did you get...whatever it was fixed?"

"Yeah," Doc nodded, opening the hood and putting the briefcase inside. "I might as well tell you, it was the holographic generator."

"Wait, if you've got that fixed, you mean you can hide the DeLorean? That's great, we don't have to worry about anyone trying to steal it…we can make it look like some broken down thing."

Doc shook his head. "I'm afraid not, it has to be calibrated and that takes a while and I'd rather get everything fixed as quickly as possible."

Marty sighed.

Doc put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know this isn't your idea of a good time."

Marty held up his hand. "I know, Doc, really I'm just mouthing off-"

"It's his hobby," Jennifer added.

Marty poked his tongue out at her. "Thanks for your support."

"All right, all right you two, onto our next destination and no," Doc held up his hand. "I'm not going to tell you when it is."


	3. Chapter 3

The security devices for both the time circuits and Mr. Fusion originated from the same year, which made things a lot easier.

Again, he landed the DeLorean in the wooded area outside of town, leaving Marty and Jennifer to keep watch…or at least make a **show** of keeping watch.

It was a regular bus though, with a driver, Doc pulled his hat down a lot lower, this time, since it was rather probable he and his family were still in Hill Valley and he certainly didn't want to be recognised. Rejuvenation clinics hadn't been invented yet and even if they had been, they weren't good enough to make a nearly 88 year old man look nearly 68.

"Courthouse Mall please," he all but mumbled.

"Do you have your senior citizen's card?" The driver asked, apparently not put off by his gruffness.

"No, left it at home."

"Any ID then, otherwise you have to pay full fare."

"That's all right, I'm in a bit of a hurry."

If the driver thought he was behaving oddly, he didn't push the point. "That'll be forty-seven dollars fifteen."

Doc handed the driver a fifty. "Keep the change," he added and hurried down to the back of the bus.

"Hey, not so close, butthead, there's plenty of room in this thing."

A chill ran down Doc's back, even though it was grizzled with age, he'd know that voice anywhere.

He had sat right next to Biff Tannen.

"Sorry," he grunted and moved to the opposite side of the back seat.

"Can you hurry this damn thing up?" Tannen yelled up the aisle. "Some of us have got places to be."

"I'm going as fast as I can, sir," the driver called back in a tightly controlled voiced. "There's been a breakdown on the eighty."

"God damnit," Tannen leaned back. "Useless."

Doc had to admit wanting the bus to hurry the Hell up as well, if only to get as far away from Tannen as possible. It would be just over 17 years (or would it?) until the old codger stole the DeLorean and Doc still had nightmares about the horrors Tannen had wrought. Tannen was the whole reason Doc was being so cautious with the new DeLorean.

It probably took only about ten minutes longer than usual to arrive at Courthouse Mall, but to Doc it felt like an eternity and it didn't get much better when Tannen also got off the bus and headed towards the Mall.

Doc really didn't have the patience to stand around and wait until Tannen was a good distance away, so he followed at a discreet distance.

Doc's destination was _Rule of Thumb_ and took him past a _Barnes & Nobel_, its window display caught his eye.

It was hard for it not too, since Marty's father's name was on several huge posters.

Underneath _George McFly_ was a cacophony of scenes, some futuristic, some modern and some from the past and the images was the title: _Holes in Time_

"_A fantastic adventure through time from the author of _A Match Made in Space_,_" Doc read the one line synopsis under his breath. _I hope that's entirely fictional…_ Marty hadn't told anyone about time travel except Jennifer, a fact that surprised Doc. He couldn't exactly blame his friend if he spilled the beans some day, but Doc really hoped that Marty wouldn't.

"Damn butthead."

Doc pulled his hat back down low, he'd forgotten about Tannen, who'd also stopped to take a look at the display.

"Time travel, what a crock, only an idiot would write that crap, and only idiots would buy it."

Doc snuck a look at Tannen, who frankly didn't have much of a leg to stand on when it came to looking down on idiots. No doubt it was sour grapes.

Of course, the man seemed to have become smarter over the years, if he's theft of the DeLorean was (or would be?) any indication.

But then slowly Tannen got a strange look on his face though…as if he was remembering something.

Doc recalled that Tannen must have got a look at the original DeLorean way back in 1955 when Doc and Marty had stolen the Almanac back from him. That was more than fifty years ago…could the old man really remember it?

_Probably isn't something you see every day…_ Doc reasoned, and decided to get the Hell out of Tannen's sight.

The security system for the time circuits was by far the most secure, or at least that was what Doc was aiming for.

After all, if, God forbid someone managed to bypass the holographic disguise, Mr. Fusion and the door locks, the Time Machine would be pretty much useless (at least as far as time travel was concerned).

The security system in question incorporated not only scramble keys, but a finger print scanner for each number panel, so that only those registered in the system could make inputs.

Exactly **why** it had failed, was still a mystery to Doc, he'd gone over it for hours, but hadn't found a clue, it wasn't like the other systems, the keypad was protected inside the DeLorean.

It wasn't really his style to leave things unanswered, but Doc had finally decided just to get the thing fixed.

"Hey there, welcome to _Rule of Thumb_," the sales clerk greeted him as he entered. "My name's Claire, how can I help you?"

"I'm afraid I've got an item that needs fixing," Doc greeted the young woman, giving her a smile and setting the briefcase on the counter.

"Oh no, is it still under warranty?" She asked as he opened the case and withdrew the keypad unit.

"I'm afraid I don't have the receipt and I paid cash."

"We'll see what we can do," Claire assured him, "what exactly is wrong with it?"

"Basically the scrambler and fingerprint reader components have stopped working. It still functions, the security code is intact, but I brought it for more than that."

Claire nodded. "Well, let's plug it in and take a look." She picked up the unit and inserted it into a terminal, switching the power on.

As Doc had said, the keypad lit up, the numbers could be seen and when Claire started pressing the buttons no alarm sounded.

"Hmmm," Claire chewed the side of her thumb for a moment in thought. "I'm not too sure **what** the issue is, the diagnostic says the electrical input is fine, the key sensors are working…I can't say I've ever seen a problem like this in one of our units before. The only thing I can do for you really is send it back to the manufacturer."

"How long with that take?" Doc asked, although of course time wasn't really an issue, he **would** however need to know what time to take the DeLorean to.

"Let's see," Claire moved over to the computer and rapidly tapped on the keys, saying after a moment. "Including transit to and from Japan about a month," she frowned. "I'm very sorry is that too long?"

"No, that's fine, how much will it cost?"

"That's the problem, these things are notoriously expensive to repair…and you don't have the receipt so we can't prove it's under warranty. I think you're going to find yourself pretty out of pocket."

Doc considered he didn't have **that** much money, in fact he was running pretty short…

"Maybe I'd be better off buying a new model? I'm sure they've improved since I brought this one last year."

Claire gave him a rueful smile. "Actually, they're pretty much the same, but with more protection from computer viruses and of course cheaper. Prices start at a thousand and ten."

Doc made some quick calculations in his head and was satisfied he'd be able to cover all the security devices.

"What kind of offer can you make?"

Claire came out from behind the counter and directed him to follow her to the keypad unit section, the shelves were packed with units of all sizes, shapes and colours.

"Did you just want the standard model?"

"I don't really care much for style," Doc told her, which he figured would be no surprise considering his rather eccentric outfit. "I'd just like a very secure one."

"Hmmm," Claire ran her eyes over the shelves, before she reached out and picked up a unit.

"This one's probably your best bet," she passed it to him, "it's a _Sony_, top of the line, but understated, it's got a ten year warranty on it too – oh - !" She interrupted herself looking to the front of the store, someone had obviously entered. "Excuse me, I'll be right back."

"That's fine," Doc assured her wanting to take a better look at the unit anyway.

But he couldn't help tuning into the conversation – why did these stores have to be so quiet?

"I know you're working, but I just need to ask you something," a male voice spoke apologetically.

"OK, what?"

The voice sounded oddly familiar, but at the same time Doc was more than certain he had never heard it before.

"I'm sure your mother will love any gift you get her." Claire was saying. "It's the thought that counts, right?"

The male voice sighed. "I know…I know, call me a perfectionist."

"Oh, I **do**," Claire teased.

"But it's just…Mother's always been so supportive of me, not to say my father hasn't, but he's **easy** to shop for, just get him the latest gadget and he's happy."

"That's pretty much true of **all** men," Claire replied, drolly. "Look, Jules-"

The jolt of shock that ran through Doc at that name was almost enough to knock him over.

_**JULES?!**_

Very, very carefully Doc crept to the end of the aisle and peeked around the end of the shelf to get a good look at the front of the store.

His heart jumped into his throat the sales clerk was talking to a very tall young man with light brown hair and though his face looked quite different, Doc saw the resemblance immediately.

It was **his** Jules! Twenty years older, but it was his eldest none the less.

"Great Scott!" It just popped out, but luckily Doc was so shocked it came out as a breathless rasp. Neither Claire nor Jules heard him.

This was a lot worse than Biff Tannen, a hat might fool him and the store clerks, but his own son would see through the disguise immediately!

And although Jules would understand time travel, Doc really didn't want to run into his son, knowledgeable or not, the chances of his son imparting some information about the future (he and Clara's next child for one thing) were very high.

_Steady, steady,_ Doc told himself, trying to regain his nerves. _He hasn't seen you yet and __**won't **__see you if you don't draw attention to yourself._

"I finish up in an hour," Claire was saying, "we can go shopping together then, OK? Right now, though, I've got a customer here right now, I can't keep him waiting forever."

"Of course, of course, I'm sorry, I'll meet you at the fountain at three."

"Great, love you."

Doc finally relaxed and Jules left and quickly rushed back to where he had been standing when Claire reappeared.

"Sorry about that," she gave him an apologetic grin. "Anyway, that unit costs two thousand and sixteen, we have a generic brand for one thousand and ten though."

"No, no, this is fine," he assured her, the original keypad had been a cheap brand and he figured maybe that had had something to do with it failing.

"OK and tell you what, I'll make it a clean two thousand, it's not much, but…" Claire shrugged.

"Oh no, every little bit helps," he assured her, "plus it makes it easer for me to pay with cash."

"Ok, come this way," Claire directed him back towards the counter. "And make sure you keep that receipt safe this time!"

* * *

The new keypad unit safely in his briefcase, Doc headed towards his second destination.

Whoever owned the store had decided to be quaint because a bell rang as he opened the door.

"Welcome to _Stocked and Locked_," the older gentlemen behind the counter called to him. "How can I help you today?"

Setting the brief case on the counter Doc took out the security devices.

"I'm having a problem with these," he informed the man, "they've just stopped working."

"Hmmm," the man picked them up, he turned them on and held them towards Doc, who pressed his thumb to the plate of one and then the other. Nothing happened. He spoke into them too…zip.

"Better run a diagnostic," the man finally decided, plugging them into the computer. "Have you had 'em long?"

"About a year."

"Hmmm, well they've got a five year warranty…and we don't usually get complaints."

"I do use them quite a bit," Doc was quick to say, although he didn't add that he also used them in an unorthodox manner.

Before the man could reply the computer beeped. Putting on a pair of reading glasses the man took a quick look at the screen. "According to this the circuits are fried…have you been using these to secure a high power source?"

Doc considered his options, the man wasn't looking at him suspiciously though, so he decided to come clean. "I'm working on a number of projects that I prefer the public don't get into, patents and such."

"Ah," the man nodded. "Fair enough…gotta protect your ideas. But in that case you're better off purchasing a higher grade of security device, I mean I can send these in for repairs, but they'll just break again, and probably in a few months."

"I see." Doc hadn't planned for that and he was well aware that it would cost a lot more and he'd only brought limited funds.

There was of course the option of using his thumb…as long as the clerk didn't decide to double check the transaction….

"I can make you a good deal, though," the man assured him, coming out from behind the counter. "Let me show you."

Doc followed him to the back, to a section of shelves with a sign reading _Heavy Duty_ above them.

The man picked up two units, both of which were smaller than the ones Doc had. "These are the primo high security devices on the market, just came out. These babies can take up to one thousand amps and a petawatt of electricity. Basically you'd need to have the power of the entire continental US running through a door to short circuit the thing."

Doc whistled, it was truly amazing how fast technology moved…he'd been impressed by the 2007 models!

"So yeah, I can supply you with two for twenty five thousand, individually the units cost fifteen thousand."

"That's quite a discount."

The man shrugged. "Hey, I'm feeling generous."

Clearly he was, but Doc it did make what Doc was about to ask risky. _He might think I'm some sort of criminal…_ But he had to risk it.

"I'd prefer to pay for it in cash if that's all right."

As he expected the man peered at him over his glasses. "Paranoid about electronic payment, huh?"

Doc shrugged. "I'm a traditionalist at heart," he hoped the excuse would wash.

It seemed though, for once in his life he'd stumbled across an open minded store clerk, because the man simply shrugged. "Fair enough, the _Bank of America_ is on the street level just across from _Lou's Fitness_. Just be careful you don't get mugged."

Doc gave a small grin. "Not to worry I have my own methods of protection. I'll be back later in the afternoon."

As he hurried from the store he considered his options…he could go to the _Bank of America_ and withdraw the necessary funds from his account, his other older self would probably chalk it up to time travel. But that would necessitate a whole can of worms…he'd have to make himself look older somehow and if he was going to do that he may as well just pay by thumb in store.

He briefly considered calling up his other self and having him make the purchases, but he immediately dismissed the idea, even having a knowledge of time travel couldn't cancel out the bizarre feeling that coming face to face or voice to voice with your other self. It was too big of a risk.

No, he'd have to trade something in to get the necessary money…fortunately _The Blast from the Past _store was a lifeline for the cash strapped time traveller.

He needed a ten thousand dollars which roughly equated to a hundred bucks in 80s terms. What did he have that would sell for that much…?

It didn't take him long to remember, but it meant going back to the DeLorean.

Well, he'd have Marty and Jennifer back in time for the party no matter what **and** he'd even let them get their present from the future, so the kid couldn't be **too** annoyed.

At least Doc hoped so as he headed for the bus stop.

* * *

"You mean you gotta go **back**?! Jeeze, Doc, can't we just take the DeLorean? There's heaps of places to hide it closer to town. I may not know when we are, but we're not too far from Hill Valley are we?"

"I don't want to risk it, Marty, the DeLorean is too obvious."

"Why didn't you take enough money to fix whatever the Hell it is that needed to be fixed?"

"I didn't want to carry that much money around. Look, I won't be long, after this we've only got one more time to visit before I go to next Monday get your photo frame and you can go to your folks' party."

Marty heaved an annoyed sigh, but he knew it was no use complaining, he flopped into the drivers' seat of the DeLorean as Doc opened the hood, pulled out the briefcase that held all the cash he'd collected from various time periods and pulling out a number of early period ones, he headed off.

"It's not so bad, Marty," Jennifer gave him a smile, she had dug out a novel from her purse and was reading it. "You've got the game."

"Nah, the battery ran out."

"Well, we could play _Clue_…I've always wanted to."

"You've never played _Clue _before?" Marty looked at her in amazement. "Man, you haven't lived."

"Wow, now I'm really expecting something special." She laughed.

"Oh, it'll be exciting," Marty promised, pulling the game from the backpack. "I guarantee it."

* * *

The new devices safely tucked away in his briefcase Doc breathed a sigh of relief. Soon enough they would be able to go back to 1988 and he'd be able to reinstall all the components and not have to worry about the space time continuum, or at least not worry about anyone **else** screwing it up.

The last security device was the simplest. But in his life Doc had come to realise that sometimes those where the hardest things to get past. People tended to over think things (Doc knew the pitfalls of **that** all too well!) and in doing so missed the obvious. This final piece of security was the last line of defence, if someone somehow got past the rest of them, this one would hopefully stump them.

Arriving back at the DeLorean he discovered Marty and Jennifer had raided the backpack and were in the middle of a game of _Clue_.

"It was Colonel Mustard in the Study with the Gun!" Jennifer cried excitedly, waving the cards from the envelope in the air.

Marty pouted. "Are you **sure** you never played this before?"

"Oh come on, don't be such a sore loser, I just have superior problem solving skills."

"Yeah, yeah," Marty grumbled.

"Speaking of guns, do you two have the sleep-generator on hand," Doc spoke, making the two of them jump.

"Doc, phew, it's you."

"Fortunately," Doc remarked, shaking his head and returning the briefcase to its place under the hood.

"So one last stop right?"

"Right," Doc nodded, "and this time, you two really **do** need to keep an eye on the DeLorean, because I really don't feel like walking twelve miles into town."

"Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it," Marty drawled, climbing out of the driver's seat.

"We'll stay with the car, Dr. Brown," Jennifer promised, packing up the _Clue_ and then getting out of the passenger seat so Marty could sit in it and then sitting on his lap.

"All right, you know the drill," Doc remarked, starting the engine.

Marty and Jennifer both closed their eyes as the DeLorean lifted off and streaked into the sky before disappearing in a flash of light.

* * *

Marty was surprised just how close Doc **did** bring the DeLorean to downtown Hill Valley. Doc had insisted on he and Jennifer keeping their eyes closed, and as soon as the DeLorean appeared it made a rapid decent landing rather heavily. Marty opened his eyes and immediately saw that they were in an alley.

"All right," Doc climbed out of the DeLorean. "This'll take about twenty minutes, then I'll get the frame and we'll arrive back in 1988 at precisely four-twenty pm."

"You're the Doc, Doc," Marty nodded, finally seeing an end to whole thing, he smiled at Jennifer as Doc disappeared down the alley. He leaned in for a kiss, but suddenly she jumped out of the car.

"What?"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Jennifer cried, reaching down to rub at her left calf. "I hate these shoes."

"What are you wearin' 'em for?" Marty asked, only really noticing at that moment she was wearing high heels. No wonder he'd felt short today!

She put her hands on her hips, at least for a moment before reaching back down to continue massaging her calf. "Marty! I told you, I had a job interview today, at the _Telegraph_."

"Did you?" Marty scratched his head and thought hard, but he couldn't recall it. "Must have slipped my mind, sorry…did it go well?"

"I have no idea, actually," Jennifer hmpfed. "I never know how I go in interviews."

"Well, I'm sure you knocked 'em out, looking like that." Marty told her, taking in her suit, which was well-fitted and in his opinion pretty damn sexy.

She gave him a smile. "Unfortunately, it wasn't for a fashion post. Man," she moaned annoyed. "I'm gonna have to walk this out."

"Err…you think that's a good idea?" Marty asked, climbing out of the DeLorean. "I mean, we're supposed to stay here."

"You can stay," Jennifer suggested. "Ugh, this is killing me." She hobbled towards the end of the alley, the opposite way that Doc had gone.

Marty shrugged and turned back to the DeLorean, planning to get out the _Clue_ and challenge Jennifer to best two out of three.

Suddenly he heard a shriek.

"Jen?!"

Whirling around he ran to the end of the alley, his heart hammering in his throat. "Jen, are you OK? What happened?"

As he got to the end of the alley he looked left then right and saw Jennifer crumpled on the ground.

"Jen, shit!" He rushed over to her, putting his arms around her. "What the Hell happened, are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, holding his arms for support she got to her feet. "My leg just gave out on me."

"Does it hurt that bad?" Marty asked, worried.

Jennifer gave a droll smile. "No, it feels fine **now**." She stretched out her left leg.

"Jeeze, you nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you were getting mugged or something."

"This doesn't really look like the kind of place you get mugged." Jennifer remarked looking around. "Look at those cars!"

Marty did, recognising them immediately, after all he'd spent a good week and four days in 1955.

"Man, what kinda security device could Doc get from here?" Marty shook his head. "I mean, people didn't even lock their doors in the 50s!"

Jennifer shrugged. "It must have been nice to live back then…I mean…now…" She paused confused.

"We better get back to the DeLorean, I mean Doc-"

"Son of a bitch! It **is** you!"

Marty and Jennifer turned.

"You butthead…came crawlin' back into town, did ya?"

"Biff," Jennifer gasped.

It was, but not the track suited, acquiescent Biff of 1988, but a 21 year old Biff, and he was **pissed**.

Biff looked at Jennifer for a moment, then back to Marty. "You got more balls than I thought, showin' your face. You think I don't remember what you did?"

Marty rather hoped he didn't.

_Shit, we are __**screwed!**_

There was no way they could go back to the DeLorean. _Doc is gonna __**kill**__ us. If Biff doesn't…_

"Look, I don't want any trouble," he held up his hands, he didn't rate his chances of getting Biff to back off by trying to reason with him, but he might as well try.

"Well, that's too bad, 'cause you got it."

Biff didn't go for Marty though, instead he grabbed Jennifer's arm.

"Hey!" She shouted and took a swipe at his arm. "Let go of me!"

It unravelled before Marty could do so much as take a step forward.

"You gotta a fine girl here, Klein," Biff sneered, his lip curling as he ran his eyes over Jennifer. "Whaddya doin' wasting time with an idiot?"

"He won't let go of my arm," Jennifer snapped.

Biff looked confused for a second, then his eyes narrowed. "You got quite a mouth on you."

Marty leapt forward. "Let her go, Biff!"

"Whaddya gonna do about it, huh, Klein, a little chicken shit like you?"

A few years before a remark like that would have made Marty flip out, but not anymore.

"We're in the middle of a public street, you think people are just gonna ignore you hassling a lady?" Marty asked in tight voice.

"I don't see a lady here," Biff sneered.

Then gave a yowl of pain as Jennifer stomped down on his foot **hard** with her heel.

Biff let go of her and she ran (how in her heels Marty had no idea), grabbing Marty's arm and they made a break for it.

But Biff was right on their heels.

They hurried right past the alley, Marty took a quick look over his shoulder, relieved at least that Biff didn't even so much as look down it.

"What are we going to do?" Jennifer gasped. "The DeLorean…"

"Just keep running," Marty told her.

He recognised the street they were running down, the church his family once went to (and his parents still did go to) was on it, in fact he saw the spire above the rest of the houses.

"He can't chase us forever," Marty puffed, his dress shoes were **not** made for running and for about the fiftieth time that day, he cursed his music tutor for insisting on him wearing a suit to make the presentation that day (or thirty years in the future…whatever!).

The Biff of 1988 wasn't much of a runner, but he was thirty years younger now, and it showed.

Jennifer stumbled and Marty barely caught her.

In regaining their balance though, they had come to a stop and Biff was practically on top of them.

"All right you –" Tannen began.

"Marty! Marty Klein? I can't believe it, it **is** you!"

"Shit," Marty hissed under his breath. _No, God, please, not now, not again…_

There was one saving grace, Biff's face immediately drained of colour and he came to a halt.

"Dr. Brown said you wouldn't be able to come," the voice continued. "But here you are! Lorrie's going to be ecstatic!"

Marty looked towards the voice.

And came face to face with his twenty year old father.


	4. Chapter 4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1958

10:47AM

* * *

"Hey Biff," George McFly turned towards the bully, his old nemesis, his voice completely composed.

"Er…uh…McFly," Biff, who'd been chasing them down with such a vicious look on his face just seconds before was practically shaking in his shoes!

"What are you doing here? Showing Marty how to get to the church?"

"Yeah, yeah," Biff blurted. "That's what I was doin'."

No-one looked like they believed it, least of all George, but either way Biff didn't hang around.

As he disappeared around the corner, George stepped forward and grabbed Marty's hand giving it a warm, firm shake. "I really can't believe you made it! And who's this?" He turned to Jennifer.

Jennifer was completely frazzled, she remembered so little of what had happened on her one trip through time. Here she was, face to face with Marty's father and he was **her** age! It was impossible…

"This is…uh…my girlfriend," she heard Marty say.

"Claudia," she blurted the first name that came to her, her mother's name and her middle name.

George looked at each of them, his brow slightly furrowed, Jennifer was certain he thought they were acting like complete weirdos.

"Is it real pleasure to meet you," George held out his hand, she took it rather weakly.

"So uh…" Marty spoke up, "what's with the tux, something big on?"

George gave a laugh. "You're kidding right? Why else are you here? For the Wedding!"

"The Wedding…" Marty echoed, weakly.

Jennifer gulped, trying to put the confusing pieces together…Doc hadn't said where they were going, but it was obvious now…

They had gone to the 12th, the 12th of August 1958.

Marty's parents' Wedding Day!

* * *

"You sure you don't need me to install this thing for you?" Terry Western asked as he rang up Doc's purchase.

"No, no, I've had a lot of experience with cars." Doc assured him, it wasn't exactly a lie, he knew the DeLorean inside and out.

"Righto," Terry nodded. "That's got a one year warranty on it, so feel free to bring your car in if there's any problems."

Doc suppressed a laugh at the thought of bringing the DeLorean into _Western Auto_ of 1958, that'd be quite a sight.

Terry handed him his change. "Have a good day."

"You too," Doc nodded and headed out of the store.

It had been thirty years but Doc remembered the Hill Valley of 1958 well and fondly, he had picked this year and time because he hadn't been in town, his younger self that was. He'd been on the East Coast at Harvard working on calculations for time travel. Not that he was posing as his 1958 self, but it was a relief knowing there as no way he could run into…himself.

Besides the particular thing he was looking for had only been available at _Western Auto_ for a short period of time, apparently they hadn't sold very well. He had done his research though, and was certain that his purchase would not cause the product to continue to be sold when before it hadn't.

It was a fine clear morning and Doc enjoyed his walk back to the DeLorean, so much so he didn't notice anything was out of place until he was almost on top of the car.

Marty and Jennifer were nowhere in sight.

"What the-?"

Where the Hell had they gone. He knew Marty was impatient, but he also knew that his friend wouldn't deliberately lie.

_Something must have happened_, Doc realised.

But what? This was hardly a dangerous time, in fact if Doc recalled correctly there wasn't a single violent crime reported in Hill Valley for the whole of the year.

And who would take Marty and Jennifer and leave behind the DeLorean?

_Damnit, I should have given the kid a walkie talkie._ He thought, shaking his head. Hindsight was twenty-twenty though.

He tossed his purchase into the space beneath the hood and climbed into the driver's seat. Maybe one or both of them had to go to the bathroom…he felt rather irritated as the thought occurred to him. If that was the case…well when they got back he was going to give them one Hell of talking to.

* * *

Dad…George led him and Jennifer up the steps of the church. "I'm telling you, when Lorrie spots you, she's going to die," he said to Marty.

"Uh…I hope not…" Marty couldn't help but say dryly. _As if things couldn't get any worse!_

His father now seemed nervous, his cool demeanour with Biff seemed to have disappeared, Marty was pretty sure George's hands were shaking. Marty supposed it wasn't too surprising, after all even with the changes he'd made in 1955, Dad could still get pretty anxious. Not to mention the fact that whenever Marty thought of his **own** wedding day, he wasn't sure if he was looking forward to it, or wanted to throw up.

"I really can't believe you're here," George said again. "What have you been doing for the last three years?"

"You know…Coast Guard stuff…I'm going to college now, that sort of thing."

"And what about you," George turned to Jennifer. "Are you in college?"

"Yes," Jennifer spoke barely above a whisper. Then swallowed hard, and spoke louder. "I…um…study journalism."

"Really?" George's eyes brightened. "I'm doing creative writing, my grandfather says I'll never get anywhere with that, but what the Hell," he shrugged and grinned at Marty. "If you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything right?"

Marty managed to return the smile. "Right."

George looked at his watch. "I better get out of here, I bet this thing is slow. Milton and Toby will show you where to sit," he told Marty. "See you two at the reception." With a nervous wave he hurried off around the side of the Church.

"OK, let's get out of here," Marty grabbed Jennifer's hand and made to leave, he knew his father and his mother would be disappointed, maybe even pissed off that "Marty Klein" had bailed out, but they couldn't stay here.

The two turned and almost ran into a large group of people.

"Hey, watch it, sonny."

_Oh God,_ Marty wasn't the praying sort, but he did so now.

It didn't work, when he opened his eyes, William McFly his great grandfather was still in front of him, with Great-Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma, his Great-Aunts and Uncles and even a few of Dad's cousins!

They all looked so young and Great Grandpa and Grandma had died **years** ago, it was bizarre.

"Excuse me, you got manners, young man?" Great-Grandpa William demanded.

Great-Grandma laid a hand on his arm. "Now, Will, don't yell at the chap," she bestowed a warm smile on Marty. "Are you a friend of George and Lorraine's?"

"Marty!" Grandma exclaimed, turning to Grandpa rather excitedly. "Marty Klein, remember Max? George's friend."

Grandpa peered at him through his glasses, which made Marty feel like squirming. To him the family resemblance between them all seemed blatantly obvious, but Grandpa just shrugged. "You know I'm terrible with faces," he remarked to his wife, before turning back to Marty. "But George has mentioned you often."

"Klein, huh?" Great-Grandpa William spoke up. "You encouraged the boy to go to college?" Before Marty could answer he continued. "I suppose that's a positive, but you could have told him not to waste his time studying writing…however the Hell you do that."

"Pa!" Marty recognised the speaker immediately, Great-Aunt Beth, his Grandpa's twin. "George isn't wasting his time."

"Don't swear, Will," Great-Grandma added, "there's ladies present." She looked at Jennifer. "And who are you, dear?"

"This is Claudia," Marty spoke, seeing that Jennifer was completely overwhelmed.

"We better head in," one of his Great-Uncles, whose name Marty couldn't place, said, checking his watch. "The service begins in ten minutes."

"When have you known George to be on time for anything?" One of the cousins called out to laughs of agreement.

"Maybe not him," a woman Marty recognised as Great-Aunt Deb pointed out, "but his bride seems to get places on time."

"All right, all right, let's go then, led the way Mr. Klein." Great-Grandpa William took a step forward.

Suddenly Great-Grandma spoke. "Where's your hat, dear?"

"Uh…sorry?" Jennifer looked as confused as Marty felt.

"Not Catholic huh?" Great-Grandpa William gave her a sharp look. "You can't go inside the church without a hat, young lady."

It was only at that moment that Marty noticed every woman in the group in front of him had either a hat or some sort of head covering on.

"Uh, well…we didn't know," Marty's spirits lifted at the realisation that he and Jennifer had an escape route. "I guess you'll have to apologise to George and Lorraine for –"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Grandma spoke up in her no-nonsense way. "You two won't be missing the wedding because of a little thing like that."

Great-Grandpa William looked as if he had something to say to **that **comment, but Grandma had all ready rushed off down the church steps.

"You know, Max, that wife of yours…" Great-Grandpa William began, turning to Grandpa.

"Pa!" Great-Aunt Beth gave her father a warning look.

"We really don't want to cause any trouble," Marty tried again, taking Jennifer's hand. "We'll see you at the reception," he lied.

But at that moment, Grandma reappeared, holding a small pink hat in hand, Marty couldn't recall the name of it, but it reminded him of photos of Jackie Kennedy.

"Always be prepared," Grandma declared with a smile, holding the hat out towards Jennifer. "You're not wearing pink, but with your colouring you can pull it off."

"Uh," Jennifer swallowed and quickly threw a look at Marty. He briefly considered refusing the hat, but he knew Great-Grandpa William would make a scene and that would **really** screw things up.

He resigned himself to the inevitable and gave a small nod to Jennifer. "Thanks."

With Grandma and Great-Aunt Beth's help Jennifer secured the hat on her head.

"Oh, don't you look lovely," Great-Grandma smiled at her.

"All right, all right, let's go," Great-Grandpa William commanded.

For a second Marty really did consider pushing past his own great grandfather, but rejected it almost immediately. Throwing Jennifer a helpless look he took her arm and the two turned entering the church, his relatives following.

_God, please get us through this._

_

* * *

_

Lorraine adjusted her veil again, it just didn't seem to be straight…

Her father, sitting beside her in the back seat of the car, gave an annoyed grunt. "Do you mind, its cramped back here."

"Sorry, Dad," she gave him her brightest smile hoping to cheer him up. She knew all too well that her parents weren't happy about her marriage, but they could at least **try**.

Babs sitting on her other side gave her a sympathetic look and patted her hand in a show of support.

"What's the time?" Lorraine asked, finding it hard to sit still, it was all so exciting!

Betty sitting beside the driver checked the clock on the dashboard. "Five past."

"You mean we're late?" Lorraine practically jumped out of the seat. "Can't we go faster?"

"Calm down, Lor," Babs patted her hand again. "The bride's **supposed** to be late, it's good luck!"

"And as if that groom of yours will even notice," Sam grumbled, "he probably hasn't even got to the damn church yet."

"Dad!" Lorraine glared at him.

"Hey, everyone, we're here!" Betty pointed, sounding very relieved and sharing a look with Babs.

"A Catholic Church," Sam muttered as the driver came to a stop. "We're not even Catholic."

"Well, **I'm** going to be one," Lorraine shot back, not wanting to go through all this again, particularly not in front of her friends and not now!

"I don't see why, why doesn't he join **our** church if he wants to marry you so badly?"

Lorraine shook her head. _Unbelievable! As if Dad hasn't been conservative about every other little thing in life!_

"Dad, we're all ready running late," she pointed out, trying to remain calm as she leaned over and opened the door. "I'm getting married here, so can we please go?"

Sam shook his head, but climbed from the car, took her hands in his and helped her out.

The driver had all ready helped Babs and Betty from the car and now the two straightened their pillbox hats and then they came over to help Lorraine straighten out her dress and veil.

Lorraine loved her dress, she thought it was absolutely **perfect**, made of satin, long, with a little train, there was no beading or flounces or frills, and that was how Lorraine liked it. It had though, needed one addition to make it acceptable for church.

"I **love** these boleros!" Babs announced, smoothing down the sleeves of Lorraine's before doing the same to her own. "They're just **so** elegant."

"**You'd** say that," Betty gave Lorraine a wink. "**You're** the one who picked them out!"

"I call it as I see it," Babs struck a glamorous pose and the three burst into laughter while Sam rolled his eyes.

The driver, meanwhile, had opened the trunk of the car and one by one handed the women their bouquets, white roses for Betty and Babs and red roses for Lorraine.

She inhaled the scent of them deeply, trying to calm her nerves, she'd only gone to a few Catholic services in her life and she still wasn't completely sure what to do during them. Not to mention remembering her 'lines' as they were. Still she couldn't help but smile broadly, it was her Wedding Day!

Her father took her arm and with Babs and Betty leading they walked up the steps to the vestibule, where the priest was waiting.

"Mr. Baines, Miss. Baines," he greeted them warmly, shaking Sam's hand. "Miss. Shay, Miss. Adriff," he turned to Babs and Betty, before announcing. "Everything's ready to go."

Betty was peeking through the glass of one of the doors that led to the side chapel of the church. "It is, I can see the groom up there."

"Ooh, let me see him!" Lorraine took a step forward, but Babs took her arm to stop her.

"Hey, you can't do that, its bad luck to see the groom before the wedding!"

Lorraine heaved an annoyed sigh, but after a second the smile broke through again. She turned to the priest and flipped the front part of her veil over her face. "If that's so, let's get the wedding started then!"

The priest smiled and headed towards the door.

* * *

"Gee, George, calm down," Stephen whispered, "you can't flip out in front of everyone."

"I'm not flipping out," he whispered back, clenching his hands together tightly to stop them from shaking. He had hoped that getting outside for some air would help settle his nerves and he had felt better, but only until he walked back into the chapel.

"Right," Stephen gave him a sceptical look.

"Why are there so many people here?" George hissed, shifting his weight from foot to foot unable to keep still. "Who invited every family member I know? Because, I'm telling you, **I** didn't."

"It's not that many people…it's a small chapel." Stephen pointed, obviously thinking that would make George feel better.

It didn't.

"Kill me now."

Then as much as he hated to George took another look at the congregation, there was Al sitting in the front pew, she had arrived early to give him moral support. When she noticed he was looking in her direction, she gave him the thumbs up. Next to her was his father, stepmother and Aunt Beth, the latter gave him a wave, meanwhile Grandpa looked annoyed as usual, Grandma patting his arm and chatting to Aunt Melinda. In the second row, George spotted Marty and his girlfriend, who had somehow come up with a hat, George gave them a small wave, which they returned. On the left hand side of the chapel were the Baines's most of who were looking around the chapel rather curiously, probably because they were all Anglican.

At that moment the double doors at the back of the chapel opened and the priest, Father Michael appeared, he gave a nod and the small string quartet, who were in position at the back, began to play _Canon in D_.

Everyone got to their feet and turned expectantly towards the back of the chapel, as Father Michael walked down the short aisle followed by Babs and Betty.

George barely noticed them, he was having a hard time swallowing and was really beginning to feel like he was going to throw up, which would go over just **great** with everyone.

When Betty and Babs reached the front of the chapel they both gave him supportive smiles so he **knew** he must look nervous.

He tried to smile back, but couldn't manage it, in the next moment though, all nervousness fled.

At the back of the church a vision appeared, a vision in a long white dress, a startling red bouquet in her gloved hands.

George forgot all about everyone else in the church, he didn't even really see Sam Baines. He could think only one thought.

_Wow._

_

* * *

  
_

"Look at your mother," Jennifer gasped. "That dress is **gorgeous**."

Marty couldn't believe Jennifer could notice clothes at a time like this! The entire space time continuum could be in danger! (How exactly, he didn't know, that was Doc's department, but Marty knew well enough that you never could guess what trouble your actions could cause in the past…or even in the future.)

But as his mother came into his field of vision, he had to admit she did look nice, especially with the huge smile on her face, a direct contrast to Grandpa Sam's, which was in more of a scowl.

There were noises of appreciation from a lot of people, mostly women.

Marty looked at the front of the church where his father stood, a few minutes ago, George McFly had looked to be on the verge of fainting. But now he was staring at Mom, almost slacked jawed, his eyes glazed over.

Jennifer giggled. "Your dad's hilarious."

"Hey, give 'im a break," Marty whispered back, "he hates getting up in front of crowds."

As Mom reached the front of the chapel, she gave Grandpa Sam a kiss on the cheek, which actually brought a small smile to the man's face, before she reached out and took Dad's hand.

Marty hadn't been to church in a while, not since Easter in fact, but he immediately realised that even if he had been he'd still be totally lost.

Marty now recalled his father telling him, Dave and Linda how different church was back then, but he hadn't paid all that much attention.

Now he wished he had, he had no idea what was going on because the priest began the service in another language!

"This is really weird," Marty couldn't help muttering to himself.

There was something so familiar about the priest, too and it suddenly dawned on Marty who it was…

"Damn, that's Father Michael, he died ten years ago," Marty whispered to Jennifer.

"Ssh!"

Surprised Marty looked at the young girl next to him, she looked about nine, she wore a small veil and lacy gloves and, Marty supposed, was a McFly relative, but not one he could recognise. "Don't talk in church," she whispered, finger to her lips. "It's rude."

"Uh, sorry," he whispered, Jennifer elbowed him gently in the ribs and grinned.

The priest continued and Marty realised what the language was, Latin, the guy was actually speaking in Latin! What's more all of his relatives around him seemed to know what was going on.

Taking a quick look over at the bride's side of the chapel he noticed that most of them had booklets in hand.

At that moment Jennifer gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow and he looked over to see that she had one of them in hand and he stepped closer to take a look at it.

"Latin?" Jennifer whispered.

"That's how they used to do it," Marty at least managed to remember **that**.

* * *

"Where are those damn kids?!" Doc's voice echoed inside the DeLorean.

There was no answer to the question.

Any thoughts that Marty and Jennifer had just run off for a quick trip to the facilities had gone out the window about ten minutes ago. What the Hell could they be doing?

Doc considered heading out onto the streets and asking any passers-by if they'd seen the couple, but he could hardly leave the DeLorean.

_They must have got caught up in something,_ he decided, _but what?_

He considered, perhaps a lost child had come up to them, he supposed he could hardly blame them for leaving the time machine to take the kid back, but they could have at least left a note or something.

He heaved an annoyed sigh and climbed out of the car, he had planned to wait until he got back to 1988 before working on reinstalling the security devices, but maybe he could set up the holographic generator.

Although, if Marty and Jennifer were still missing by the time he got that up and running, it was probably time to panic.

_I should have just waited nine months to fix this thing and brought Clara along._ He thought, shaking his head as he opened the hood of the time machine to beginning working on the generator.

* * *

Jennifer had never been to a Catholic Wedding, and certainly not one that had occurred thirty years ago! The whole thing was fascinating, especially since it was actually in Latin! She had heard that this was the way it used to be, but it had always seemed more like a legend than anything that had **really** happened.

And she was still having trouble believing that this really **was** Marty's parents wedding and that she really **was **surrounded by Marty's relatives, all thirty years younger (and in some cases alive again!).

The Latin was kind of lulling and Jennifer found her mind wandering, taking in the small chapel and the people assembled there. The women were all in long dresses, mostly of floral patterns, with stockings and low heels. They all wore hats or head coverings of various kinds and a lot of them even wore gloves! It was lucky that the suit she had worn to her interview was understated and the skirt longer than knee length and the heels while stilettos weren't terribly high. Marty of course, being in a suit would fit in just about anywhere.

"Now join your right hands and repeat after me." The priest suddenly spoke in English, and Jennifer almost jumped in surprise, bringing her attention back to the front of the church, where Marty's parents stood in front of the altar.

Mr. McFly swallowed nervously as the priest gave the vows, and when he began to repeat them, his voice was shaky, although it became a bit calmer towards the end.

"I, George McFly, take you, Lorraine Baines, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Then it was Marty's mothers turn to make her vows, her voice on the other hand began strong and clear.

"I, Lorraine Baines, take you, George McFly, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Jennifer couldn't help but sigh, it was all so romantic!

The priest went back to Latin, at least for a while before saying. "I call upon all of you here present to be witnesses of this holy union which I have now blessed. _'Man must not separate what God has joined together.'_"

And rather oddly, he picked up a small bowl of water and sprinkled it over Marty's parents, she glanced quickly at the booklet, which one of boys (Marty's maternal uncles in fact) had passed to her, it was Holy Water…that made sense, she supposed, _Still I really don't want to have water sprinkled over __**me**__ at __**my**__ wedding._

The thought made her blush, after all Marty hadn't even **asked** yet…

A young man, who unlike the other weddings she'd been to didn't seem to be related to either the bride or the groom, holding two rings on a plate came forward and the priest went back to speaking Latin, only this time Marty's parents actually had to reply in the same language!

"I didn't know your parents could speak Latin," she whispered to Marty, impressed.

"I didn't either…" He replied, shaking his head.

She didn't understand a word of it of course, but the translation in the booklet really was very touching, all about the rings being a symbol of faithfulness and love.

She was definitely taking notes on this!

* * *

_It's all so perfect_, Lorraine thought as she gazed at George, who was **still **so nervous, she had to stifle a giggle. _Oh, he's so cute! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!_

But she quickly brought her mind back to the service, and in the nick of time too, Father Michael had just finished blessing the rings and everyone was to reply 'Amen'. _I'd never live it down if I'd messed up that!_

Father Michael blessed the rings with Holy Water before saying in English. "Now that you have sealed a truly Christian marriage, give these wedding rings to each other saying after me."

George went first and she was well aware that he was terrified of dropping the ring, in fact according to Babs who heard it from Stephen, George had actually practiced picking it up! She gave him her most encouraging smile, although she didn't think he had anything to worry about and she was right.

It was just so sweet when he realised it too, his face broke into a wide smile and this time he repeated the words without so much as a quiver in his voice. "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Take and wear this ring as a sign of our marriage vows."

The ring was a rather tight fit since it had to go over her long white gloves, but at least it wouldn't fall off!

Then it was her turn, and she really **did** almost drop the ring, not considering how hard it would be to keep a hold of with gloved fingers. George's eyes widened, but she managed to keep a hold of it and was pretty sure no-one in the chapel was any the wiser as she slipped the ring on his finger repeating what he had said to her.

Father Michael blessed them and then came another difficult part, more Latin…except for that she rather liked the Catholic Church. _But I could certainly do without worrying about being tongue-tied!_

Fortunately she and George had practiced this part as well, so it came off without a hitch. She could resist a quick peek towards the congregation, wondering if her family would be impressed. But on the right side of the chapel among George's family she caught sight of a face…one she hadn't seen in years…and had figured she never would again…it couldn't be…

But there was no time for that! She was in the middle of her Wedding!

Father Michael had raised his hands over them giving them a blessing, this one in English... quite a relief! Although that didn't make it easier for her to concentrate on what was being said, she was just so excited!

But two of them did stand out...the one about children which Lorraine couldn't help but blush when responding to. _Children! __**Me!**_ She had, of course, talked about children on and off since the very first night she and George fell in love, but it had always seemed so far off… something that would never really happen… and the one about always being blessed in friends. Lorraine threw a quick look at Babs and Betty as she responded. She knew she could depend on **them! **Her family might not like her choice of husband, but Babs and Betty would always stand by her.

And last of all was the Nupital Blessing, Lorraine handed her bouquet to Babs before she knelt beside George, luckily the chapel had cushioned kneelers.

The blessing was a long one and in Latin, she had gone over what it all meant, but she couldn't quite remember all of it now, although most of it was directed at her as the bride.

She hoped her family weren't looking **too** bored…

Father Michael made the sign of the cross over them and everyone or at least the groom's side of the chapel said. "Amen."

George took her hand and together they got to their feet.

The string quartet started up again, as Father Michael directed Babs, Stephen, George and herself to sign the marriage certificate, once they did…it would be official!

It was so exciting! George went first, his writing even messier than usual, but he gave her a big grin as he handed the pen to her and she signed her new name with a flourish – _Lorraine Baines McFly_.

She took George's hand in hers and the two of them stepped back so that Babs and then Stephen could sign as witnesses.

And lastly, Father Michael signed as the registrar, before giving them both a smile, and holding his hands up to bless the congregation, and declaring the service finished.

"Now, George, you may kiss the bride."

Lorraine looked up into George's eyes and gave her husband a wide smile.

George gave a small gulp, kissing Lorraine, in front of all these people... not that he hadn't kissed Lorraine in front of a crowd before, but doing it in church…

But Lorraine's eyes were sparkling beneath her veil and her lips really did look inviting…

Reaching out he careful lifted the veil up over Lorraine's hair, and ran his hands down the sides of her face, titling it up slightly and slowly brought his lips to hers.

He felt her arms encircling his shoulders and she deepened the kiss, to one he was sure was not the least bit church appropriate!

But everyone seemed to take it in a stride, there were a few polite laughs, but no-one shouted anything, not even Sam Baines! A miracle for sure!

As usual, he found himself forgetting everything else, kissing Lorraine always did that. At least until on the vestige of his awareness he heard Father Michael clearing this throat and cheeks reddening he broke the kiss.

Lorraine, as ever, wasn't the least embarrassed taking hold of his arm and smiling broadly, then her eyes widened slightly and she leaned close.

"George, is that Calvin?"

He had no idea who she was talking about…at first.

_She never gets his name right,_ he thought amused before whispering back. "Surprise."

"You knew he was coming? And you didn't say anything?"

"Not until two seconds before the service," he assured her. "I guess he must have changed his mind."

"I **knew** he wouldn't let us down," Lorraine cooed, and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek.

"No more of that," Babs kidded as she came over to hand Lorraine's bouquet back to her. "We're in church here."

"Oh be quiet," Lorraine kidded back as the string quartet began the recessional.

"Don't forget to bow," George whispered as Father Michael did and preceded down the aisle the string quartet playing _the Wedding March_.

George, Lorraine, Babs, Betty and Stephen followed suit before following him.

As they walked down the aisle, there were well-wishes from both sides.

"Congratulations!"

"Lorraine, you look **gorgeous**!"

"Good work on not fainting, George."

That last one was from his cousin Mike, George considering giving him a dirty look, but when Lorraine giggled, he gave a sheepish one instead, since it was true enough.

The day was still absolutely beautiful as they emerged from the chapel. George wasn't quite sure why he thought it wouldn't be…everything just seemed so different and as he looked down at Lorraine, Mrs. McFly, his wife. he realised that it **was!**

The photographer had arrived and was all ready directing the bridal party to get together on the steps of the Church.

"Move a little to the right there, honey," he called to Betty, who raised an eyebrow at him warningly and he quickly added. "Er, please, ma'am."

Betty smirked at Lorraine and Babs who giggled in response.

"Cut the guy some slack," George told them as he put an arm around Lorraine's waist. "He's probably just nervous."

"No, he thinks he's a smooth operator," Betty rolled her eyes. "Believe me, George, I know 'em when I see 'em."

Babs snickered. "Takes one to know one."

"**So** mature."

"All right, ladies, gentlemen, smile please!" The photographer all professionalism now requested.

George looked down at Lorraine and she looked back, her eyes sparkling with joy. They didn't need to smile, they all ready were!


	5. Chapter 5

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1958

11:35AM

* * *

"That was so romantic," Jennifer sighed as the bridal party exited the chapel. She took Marty's arm and squeezed it, looking up at him with a smile. "Don't you think so?"

Marty shrugged, he would have called it totally bizarre, not to mention embarrassing at the end, his own parents had practically made out in a church!

"We gotta get out of here," he whispered in her ear, "Doc has to be back by now."

Jennifer actually looked disappointed at this!

_Women_, he thought to himself and made to slip out of the pew and down the aisle.

He should have known it wouldn't be that easy, but he still gave a start when someone took hold of his arm.

Turning he saw it was Grandma.

"Er…nice service," he managed, and took a look at Jennifer. "Do you need your hat back?"

"Oh not right now, why don't you two come with Max, Alison and I to the reception, it's kind of hard to find and I know you haven't been in town for years."

"Uh…well," his mind went blank, he couldn't think of a way to get out of this, if he insisted on he and Jennifer making their own way, Grandma was sure to want to follow and give them directions. Not to mention how strange it would seem to refuse a ride…

"Thank you very much, Mrs. McFly," Jennifer spoke up, a little too overeager he thought.

_Does the word paradox mean anything to you?_ Marty thought at Jennifer, but he couldn't say it aloud.

Next thing he knew he found himself caught up in the huge group of his relatives, all of whom were chatting away.

"That was short!"

"She's not Catholic, you know."

"She's one heck of a looker, though, I can't believe George landed her!"

"Mike!"

"Come on, like you're not thinking the same thing."

Aunt Alison came up beside them. "So restrained as a family, aren't they?" She said to her mother.

"Al! Leave them alone," Grandma warned her, but she grinned. "Have you met Marty and Claudia?"

"Marty," Aunt Alison looked at him closely for a moment, then her eyes widened. "Hey, yeah! I remember you! Where'd you go?"

"Uh, Coast Guard duty," Marty answered quickly.

"Oh yeah, that's right," Aunt Alison snapped her fingers, obviously remembering Marty's cover story (or the one made up for him by Stella Baines) to explain away the vest he was wearing when he first arrived in 1955. "Sounds fun." Aunt Alison then looked at Claudia. "And when did you two meet, don't tell me you were going out with her when –"

"Alison," Grandma gave her a **real** warning look this time.

Aunt Alison simply shrugged, but dropped the subject.

The Baines' showed up as well, Grandpa Sam and Grandma Stella were deep in conversation.

"Hey, look! It's that boy Lorrie went out with before McFly," Milton, now fifteen, all but shouted, pointing in Marty's direction.

"Milton, don't po-" Grandma Stella began, but broke off when she caught sight of Marty. "It **is** you," she gasped.

"Who's she?" Sally asked, looking at Jennifer.

"Sally," Stella cautioned.

"Mr. Klein," Grandpa Sam grumbled. "I figured you were outta town for good."

"Well…we had to come back for the Wedding," Marty managed lamely.

"That's mighty big of you, after all, my daughter **did** dump you for him."

Sally and Toby giggled at this.

"It was…er…more of a mutual thing, sir," Marty felt necessary to point out, he **did** have his pride after all!

Grandpa Sam gave a grunt, obviously not believing him.

Finally, they got out of the chapel and the vestibule into the open air, his parents were nowhere to be seen. He took a rather longing look down the street towards the alley where the DeLorean was, considering not for the first time about making a break for it. Taking in the crowd on the steps though, he didn't rate his and Jennifer's chances.

_Well,_ he tried to cheer himself up. _We got through the service all right…_

_

* * *

  
_

Doc was halfway through reinstalling the holographic generator when he was distracted at the noise level coming from the street.

It was rather unusual for Hill Valley and setting down his spanner, Doc headed to the end of the alley and took a look.

There was a lot of activity going on at St Patrick's, the Catholic Church, a block or so up, there had been some sort of service, but it didn't look particularly like a funeral.

_A Wedding?_ He wondered to himself, frowning. _On a Tuesday?_

That was even **more** unusual…in fact he'd only heard of one –

"Great Scott," Doc gasped, and clapped a hand over his mouth. How the Hell had he forgotten?! He'd got an invitation all those years ago, Marty had even mentioned it was his parents' Wedding Anniversary today!

Tuesday, August 12th 1958 was George and Lorraine's Wedding Day!

And as soon as he realised that, he knew with absolute certainty that Marty and Jennifer had **somehow** got caught up in it all.

Hurrying back to the DeLorean, Doc sunk into the driver's seat shaking his head. _The consequences could be disastrous!_

He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He had to think about this logically. Things were obviously going fine right at the moment…after all if there was no danger that Lorraine could become infatuated with Marty at this point in time, but there were other problems that could arise from his and Jennifer's presence there, Doc was sure.

Although the universe did seem to allow time to repair any possible damage, after all back in 1955, Marty had had an entire week to fix the future.

It was even possible that there would be no ill effects, after all George and Lorraine **had** invited Marty to the Wedding…Doc had had to send a note of apology to the couple for both himself and the man who would be their son.

_But two extra people at the Wedding or the reception…what kind of effect could that have?_

He didn't know, but one thing was clear, he had to get that holographic generator up and running as soon as he could, get Marty and Jennifer and then get the Hell out of here.

* * *

"Phew! It's **hot** today," Betty announced rather dramatically running a hand across her brow. "I'm going to **bake** in this thing," she indicated her bolero.

"Oh, come on," Babs said with a laugh, shaking her head and giving Lorraine a wink. "It's hardly a snow suit."

"Say what you will, but I'm not keeping **mine** on," Betty declared, taking her arms out of the sleeves before folding it neatly. "Besides, this is much more stylish," she struck a pose, well as much as she could in the confined space of the backseat of the car sitting beside George and Lorraine. "And we can wear our necklaces!"

Babs smiled. "Well there's that…" she removed her bolero as well and from the glove compartment pulled out two gold lockets, one of which she passed back to Betty.

"This is the prettiest piece of jewellery I've ever gotten," she turned to Lorraine. "I hope it didn't set you too far back."

"Betty!" Babs scolded. "You're not supposed to ask **that**!"

"I'm **not**, I'm just saying –"

"Ugh, can you two ever have a conversation without arguing?" Stephen, who was driving asked in an exasperated tone.

"We're not arguing!" Babs and Betty objected in unison.

George laughed. "Don't ask that, Steve! Don't you know the code of female friendship?"

Lorraine turned to him. "And just what do you mean by that?"

"**See?** Don't even **mention **it!"

Fortunately, for Stephen and George they pulled up at Hill Valley Park, where the photographer was waiting.

Lorraine took off her bolero, she didn't say so, but it **was** rather hot, the weatherman that morning had predicted that it might even get to a hundred degrees! If that was the case even a three-quarter length sleeve jacket was too much.

George helped her out of the car, while Stephen helped Babs and then Betty.

The photographer met up with them. "It's absolutely beautiful weather, the lighting is just perfect," he declared to them as if they should know what that meant. "Let's get to it then."

Lorraine had considered inviting her parents, George's father and stepmother along for the photos, but she'd known all too well that her father would only mar the photos with a big frown on his face. As for George's father and step-mother, someone had to go to the Country Club first to review everything and they had volunteered, or rather Mrs. McFly had.

The thought made her giggle, because **she** was Mrs. McFly now too! She gazed up at George and he looked down at her.

"Hmm?"

"I was just thinking I sound like such an old woman now, a missus!"

"Well, if you **are** an old woman you look absolutely stunning…" he replied, gallantly, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "If you looked any younger, I'm sure I'd be in trouble."

She laughed and kissed him, slightly surprised when a flashbulb went off.

"A lovely photograph," the photographer assured them with a smile. "But how about some of the bridal party as a whole."

"Yeah!" Babs declared, with a grin. "You two can't hog all the film."

Betty agreed. "After all, we're so photogenic it would be a crime to waste it."

Lorraine rolled her eyes. "Don't forget how unbelievably modest you both are…come on then, let's go."

* * *

Jennifer knew that she and Marty were taking a big risk, attending the reception, but they didn't have much choice. The way she figured it, the best thing to do would be to act natural, after all, if anyone thought there was something wrong…_Well, having an ambulance show up will certainly screw up things._

"OK," Marty muttered, taking her arm as they entered the Banquet Hall behind his grandparents and aunt. "We've gotta get out of here."

As tempted as Jennifer was to stay and see the Reception, not to mention it'd be a Hell of a walk back to the alley, especially in these shoes, she knew Marty was right. The drive over had been full of awkward questions about Marty's supposed time in the Coast Guards.

"We can probably sneak out now," she whispered. "It's not like anyone's looking at us."

She spoke too soon, Aunt Alison swooped down on them, rolling her eyes. "Mom's dragged Max off on a tour of the place, that's what you get when you can't say _'no'_," she shook her head. "Come on let's sit down, I don't know about you, but my feet are killing me."

Jennifer gave Marty a quick look, but he looked resigned and so the two of them followed Alison to a table.

Each setting had a placard, but Alison paid no attention to them and took a seat.

"So, Claud, how **did** you meet Marty here?"

Jennifer wasn't too sure how to respond, she couldn't tell the truth, she didn't know Marty's Aunt Alison very well, but on the off chance the woman had a photographic memory she wouldn't want any uncomfortable questions popping up down the line.

"My brother's in the Coast Guards," she replied, "I went to see his ship come in and who should be the first guy off, but Marty. He's something in his uniform," she gave her boyfriend a wink and Marty rolled his eyes.

Alison gave Marty a speculative glance. "I imagine he would be."

Marty looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"What about you?" Jennifer decided to change the subject, to avoid Marty the worry of having **another** relative crushing on him. "What do you do? Are you in college?"

Alison laughed. "George mustn't have told you **anything** about me," she accused Marty. "I barely passed High School, studying's not in my nature. I work, it's as boring as all shit, honestly."

Jennifer had to admit being a little surprised by Alison's language, it wasn't too unusual for the 80s, but the late 50s! Then again, nobody but them was around.

"How 'bout you?"

"We're both in college," Jennifer shot a grin at Marty. "George and Lorraine are too?"

"Yeah, never expected her to go to college...I mean, she used to cheat on tests all the time."

Jennifer gave a start – Mrs. McFly?! "Really…?"

"Well, I exaggerate a bit," Alison admitted, "but you can bet George has never cheated on a test. "I don't know what those two have in common."

"They have heaps in common," Marty said, slightly defensively.

Alison looked at him in confusion.

"They…write to me sometimes."

"Well, you're probably right, they're 'good for each other' as my mother would say. I mean, she even talked him into sending his stories into some sci-fi magazines. And well, thanks to George Lorraine has stopped being such a pain in the ass."

Marty stared at Alison with a stunned look on his face, and Jennifer was pretty sure she had the same look.

"Pardon my French," Alison said, a bit belated, obviously thinking that's why they were staring at her. "I don't go for sugar coating stuff, and let me tell you, I knew Lorraine at her worst. She and I used to be 'best friends', if you could call that in Elementary School. She treated me more like a servant than anything else. Glad I finally told her off… I think it's pretty hilarious though, that of all the boys she could end up, she ended up with George." She laughed and leaned forward. "When he and his father first moved here she called him the weirdest and nerdiest kid in history."

Jennifer grinned, it **was** rather amusing, but Marty just looked like he wanted to get out of the reception as quickly as possible,

Fortunately for them, Alison excused herself as soon as she was out of sight, Marty got to his feet, pulling her up with him and they made a beeline through the growing crowd for the double doors.

They almost got there too, but three things happened in quick succession, Alison reappeared, followed by Max and Delae McFly and then the two bridesmaids, who names Jennifer didn't know, but who looked vaguely familiar from parties at the McFly House, came through the doors, interestingly enough they were no longer wearing their short sleeved jackets. The waved their bouquets in the air.

"Make way, make way! The bride and groom are coming!" They cheered.

They were followed by the Best Man, who gave a wave. "Thank you, thank you," he bowed as if the cheers were for him, at least until the brown haired bridesmaid gave him a nudge.

And then Marty's parents came in to general cheers, Lorraine, too, was no longer wearing her little jacket, her strapless dress looking all the more elegant for it in Jennifer's opinion.

_Who cares how nice it is,_ she berated herself, sharply, _we've still got to get out of here!_

But it was easier said then done, especially when Lorraine spotted them and headed straight over.

* * *

Lorraine couldn't believe it! Calvin Marty Klein! After all this time! After not replying to their letters…

"Calvin!" She called in greeting.

"Marty," George told her.

She gave him an arch look. "I think I'd know his name better than you."

"I'm hurt," George gave a small pout, but then grinned at her. "If you're right then, why isn't he looking at us?"

Lorraine decided not to answer, instead she called out. "Marty!"

Marty, who was holding the hand of a very pretty girl, turned in their direction, looking very embarrassed. _How sweet! _Lorraine's smile widened as she remembered how shy he had been three years ago.

"Uh…Lorraine, George…it's great to see you," he finally stammered.

"Same here!" She laughed. "Where on Earth have you been all this time? Why did you never write us back?"

Marty ducked his head. "Sorry, I'm not much of a writer and I've been so busy with the Coast Guards –"

Lorraine felt sorry for him, he looked so flustered! "Oh, its fine, I understand," she assured him, and then smiled at the girl who stood next to him. "We haven't met before…?"

"Claudia," the girl answered in a small voice.

"I…well, you must be Marty's girlfriend," Lorraine surmised, and blushed herself. "Have you known him for long?"

"About four years…"Claudia said, sounding a little dazed.

Now Lorraine **really** blushed. _Four years…oh no…_ It all became rather clear why Marty hadn't been interested in her (although not so much why kissing him had been such a non-event). Still, she wanted to kick herself for not considering that back then.

"Well, I hope you don't hate me," she commented, managing a small laugh.

"Huh?" Claudia looked rather confused…Lorraine decided that she and Marty must have had a long journey to Hill Valley and were tired.

"Marty must have only told you the good things," she gave Marty a thankful smile. She reached out and took his hand between hers. "George and I are **so** glad you could come! After all, if it wasn't for you we never would have fallen in love," she gazed adoringly up at George, he returned her look.

"Oh well…I think Tannen had more to do with it, you know," Marty mumbled.

Lorraine frowned she certainly didn't want to think about **him** on her Wedding Day! But then, she considered. _I suppose Marty's right…in a way_, she smiled grimly. _Maybe I can actually stay in the same room with the bastard now._ She thought, but wouldn't bet on it!

"Either way, you tried to get us together, and now look!" She squeezed his hand then let it go take George's. "I guess we **will **end up having kids." She winked.

George blushed and she giggled.

"We'll keep an eye out for any fires," he finally managed to say and Lorraine recalled the very strange comment Marty had given them just before disappearing at the end of the _Enchantment Under the Sea Dance_.

"We'd love to talk with you both more," she told him, "but, we have to greet everyone else, we'll see you later, though"

Lorraine really was sorry to have to end the conversation, there was so much she wanted to know about what Marty had got up to since they saw him last, but there were seventy-one other people to welcome to the reception.

"Uh…yeah," Marty gave her a wave.

As she and George walked away, she took a quick look over her shoulder. "They must be jet lagged," she mused to him.

"Hmmm?"

"They both seemed a little…well…dazed, don't you think?"

George gave her a grin. "Maybe we're just such a glowing couple…"

She kissed his cheek. "Oh, please and people say you're modest!"

"Ewww!"

"Milton," Lorraine turned to her brother, shaking her head, for a fifteen year old he could be **so **immature. At least he had the decency not to wear his cap today, although thankfully it was no longer the racoon skin hat that had been practically clued to his head until his fourteenth birthday. Then he'd got a _San Francisco's 49'er_s cap, which had taken its place.

"I'm just sayin'," Milton replied defensively.

"You look lovely, dear," Mother came up behind Milton and lay a hand on his shoulder.

Lorraine smiled, her mother certainly didn't sound as enthusiastic as her words suggested, but it was a far cry from how angry and pessimistic she'd been when Lorraine bought the dress! She could still remember what she had said. _"I can't believe you brought that! Do you have any decency?! I wouldn't wear that in the house! Let alone to a church!" _The words had almost brought Lorraine to tears, she hadn't even put it on for her mother to see! Once she had Mother had of course revised her opinion and with the bolero even Dad had given it his blessing.

"Thanks Mother, you all look great."

She smiled as she looked at the rest of her siblings – Sally and Ellen were in matching dresses, hats, gloves and all, Lorraine was very impressed that Ellen still had her hat on straight.

"You're so well-behaved, aren't you?" She leaned down and picked her youngest sister up.

"Lorrie, Lorrie!" Ellen cheered, giving her a big hug.

"And you look so grown up, Sally," Lorraine turned to her other sister as she put Ellen down.

"I'm **always** grown up," Sally, who was ten and very proud of the fact, insisted, with a look of upmost seriousness on her face, before giggling.

Lorraine laughed and then turned to her two younger brothers Toby and Joey.

"You two look so sweet!" She cried, scooping up three year old Joey and lifting him high in the air, which had him shrieking with excitement.

Toby as ever was silent - he was such a shy boy! – but he smiled up at her as she set Joey down and gave him a hug.

None of them, though, made any move to speak to George, which upset her, but she wasn't going to make a scene today, instead she noticed that one person was missing. She knew how much he disliked George, but surely he wouldn't…

"Where's Dad?"

"Parking the car," Toby piped up.

"But there's a valet…" Lorraine began.

"Dad doesn't trust 'em," Milton chuckled.

Lorraine suppressed a sigh. _I bet he wasn't shy about telling the valet that either!_

At that moment, Dad strode into the reception hall and headed right over to them.

"You'd think I was committing a crime," he declared, stridently. "Just 'cause I don't want some wet-behind-the-ears kid drivin' my Chevy."

"You tell 'im, Dad," Milton cheered.

Dad grinned at her brother then looked at her. "I thought you were going to keep that jacket on?"

This time Lorraine **did** sigh. "Dad, that was just for the chapel."

Dad gave a grunt and turned to George. "I suppose you approve of your wife running around dressed like that?"

"Dad!"

George looked terribly uncomfortable and Lorraine could have kicked her father. _Why does he act like this?_ It drove her crazy!

"I…um…I think she looks lovely, sir," George finally managed and then blushed.

To Lorraine's relief, Dad let the subject drop, but that was probably because Ellen started fussing, tugging on Sally's skirt. "Wee wee! Wee wee!"

Milton and Toby both burst out laughing, Mother rolled her eyes and bent down to pick up Ellen, excusing them both.

"I'm so sorry about that," Lorraine whispered leading George slightly away, "I don't know what gets into Dad sometimes…"

George smiled at her. "Hey, it's fine, once you meet my cousins you'll know the **real** meaning of socially blunt."

She giggled and squeezed his arm.

"Lorraine! George!"

"Auntie Millie!" Lorraine exclaimed, happy to hear one of her relatives actually acknowledging her husband's existence.

Her father's older sister who lived in Washington state hadn't been able to come to the chapel, but she had promised to come to the reception with her husband and Lorraine's cousins (who she hadn't seen for years).

"Uncle Gus, Mike, Pete, I hope you all had a good trip."

"I got to drive," Pete announced quite proudly.

"Or at least he tried," Mike teased.

"Pete did fine," Uncle Gus assured Lorraine, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "You look wonderful."

"You do!" Aunt Millie agreed, giving her a big hug. "Every inch the glowing bride, but then Baines women always look their best."

"But aren't very modest about it…"

"Grandma, Grandad!" Lorraine looked over Aunt Millie's shoulder to see her paternal grandparents, the sooner having made the remark, she hurried over to hug them both. No sooner had she done so then she heard two voices.

"Where's little Lorrie?"

"Where's our eldest niece?"

"Dave, Laurence!" Lorraine cried, excited, rushing over to hug her two uncles.

No sooner had she done so, then her mother's side of the family showed up, Gran and Grandpa Lawson, Uncle Stu and Aunt Nicole with cousins Anne and Fredrick.

They all greeted George, who rather shyly - and in Lorraine's opinion endearingly! – asked them all how they were going and thanked them for coming.

"We'll see you all soon, no rest for the new couple."

With that she led George away towards his relatives, certainly not wanting to leave them out.

"Hey, George!" The first one to spot them, a guy around their age, with reddish-blond hair gave a rather frantic wave.

"Cousin Mike," George told her and waved back at him. "Hey, glad to see you made it in one piece."

Mike smirked. "You're one to talk, I've seen you drive."

"And who taught me how to?"

"Let's not fight in front of the lady, huh?" Mike looked at Lorraine and held out his hand. "Great to meet you, George never shuts up about you, at least not when he's visiting our house."

"Really?" She took his hand and shook it while shooting a coy look at George, who blushed.

"Hell yeah," Mike nodded. "That first Easter…Lorraine this…Lorraine that…totally crazy about you."

"Awww," Lorraine cooed and gave her new husband a quick kiss on the lips.

"If I may say so, I probably would have too," Mike said, obviously trying to be gallant.

"Hmmm… well thank you." Lorraine wasn't quite sure how to take the remark, though it seemed harmless enough.

"I'm not hitting on you," Mike assured her, shooting George a grin. "Since my cousin here decked that bully, I wouldn't **dream** of it."

George rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up."

Mike made a show of looking frightened, then laughed and excused himself.

The spot he'd stood in was immediately taken up by a woman with a fashionably cut brown hair, George's Aunt Deb and her family, who Lorraine had met last Christmas.

"Congratulations, George!" Deb gushed, giving him a quick hug. "It was a lovely service, and you looked just wonderful, dear," she said to Lorraine.

"Thank you," she was glad to finally get some **real** praise for what she was wearing from someone not of her generation! "You all look really nice too."

"I got a new dress for this," Deb's daughter, whose name Lorraine didn't know, puffed out her full skirt. She leaned close and whispered. "Mom's a tight-wad, so thanks!"

Lorraine knew all too well about tight-fisted parents, so gave an understanding smile.

Aunt Deb's husband, John and her son, Allan also greeted them before moving on.

Next were George's grandfather and grandmother, with his Uncle Patrick, the eldest son, who had his wife and son in tow.

William McFly, as ever, gave his grandson a rather gruff look, but held out his hand and shook George's. "I'll be the first to admit I never though you'd get very far…but well, I'm glad to be proven wrong."

"Uh," George looked uncomfortable, but finally smiled. "Thanks, Grandpa."

"You're a wonderful girl, Lorraine," William said to her with a warm smile, he had always been a bit of a charmer, Lorraine thought, she imagined he'd flirted a lot in his prime.

"Thank you, sir."

William laughed. "None of that now, you're one of the family, call me Will."

"Umm, all right…"

Luckily she didn't have to because Nadine stepped forward and gave her a warm hug. "I know you and George will be so happy together," she said stepping back and looking a little teary eyed. "I can tell these things."

"It wouldn't be such a big leap, Ma," Patrick teased her. "If they smiled any brighter we'd all need sunglasses." He winked at them both.

"It was a lovely wedding," His wife spoke up, she was quite a bit younger than Patrick, their son was only about five years old, he shyly hid behind his mother. "Brings back such lovely memories," she smiled up at her husband.

"You finally caught me," Patrick laughed.

"Oh, you," she mockingly scolded him.

William shook his head. "Don't make fun of your wife like that, Pat, you're lucky to have her."

"I know, Pa, I know," Patrick shook George's hand and then squeezed Lorraine's. "You two have a good time."

No sooner had they moved on, then George's Great Uncle Lawerence and Great Aunt Jill

"Thanks for inviting us all," Jill always a social butterfly greeted the exuberantly. "The service was absolutely lovely!"

Great Uncle Lawerence shook George's hand. "Clarissa, Mel, Sean and their families send their congratulations and apologise that they couldn't make it."

"Oh, that's so nice of them," Lorraine exclaimed. "Tell them thank you."

"Aren't you well mannered," Jill remarked and gave George a wink. "You've done well for yourself."

George blushed and Lorraine hugged him.

As Lawerence and Jill went to speak with William and Nadine, George and Lorraine met up with George's Uncle Ted, with his wife and their two children.

"Lorraine that dress is so very elegant, Paris couldn't do better!" Aunt Marianne gushed over her and she would know too, being French. She and Ted had met at the tail end of the Second World War, a story Lorraine found terribly romantic. Particularly because of Marianne's beautiful French accent, and their children spoke the language fluently, something Lorraine always wished she could do, but all the lessons she'd taken in High School hadn't amounted to much in the end.

She attempted to practice on Clarisse and Jean-Luc, but they burst into laughter.

"Clari, Jean," Marianne scolded, "that's not polite.

"Sorry," Clarisse gave Lorraine the most angelic look. "Your accent is just terrible!"

Lorraine blushed. "Merci."

The two giggled again, before hurrying away, their parents in tow to be replaced by the family of George's Uncle Adam made up of his wife, three daughters, including his eldest daughter's husband and their son and of course, Cousin Mike.

"Back again!" Mike cheered with a wink.

"Call pest control," George whispered in her ear and she laughed, giving him a swat on the arm.

"It was a lovely service, George," Aunt Paula said, "and this club is just beautiful."

"You can thank Lorrie for that," George grinned down at her. "She arranged everything."

Aunt Paula gave her a beaming look and a kiss on the cheek, her daughters following suit. "Welcome to the family," the youngest Shelley told her, "there's no escape now."

"That's all right, I've only been a McFly for an hour but I love it."

Lila's husband, John shook her hand. "I can relate! They're a crazy bunch, but most of the time they're all right."

"That's what I'm hoping." She replied with a wink.

Uncle Adam and his family moved on, and waiting behind them, was George's father, stepmother, step-sisters and his Aunt Beth.

Aunt Beth swooped down on Lorraine and gave her a huge hug.

"A new McFly! Always a welcome thing!" She cheered, and gave George an even more exuberant hug. "You both look so happy."

"Thanks, Aunt Beth…uh can you let me breathe?" George gasped.

"Oh, you," Aunt Beth chuckled, but let him go.

George's father, quite the opposite of his twin spoke softly. "I hope you'll be very happy," he said to Lorraine, taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze before turning to his son and giving him a quick hug.

"I hope George won't make life **too** strange for you," Delae Pinaza McFly said giving her stepson an arch look and brushing back her hair. "At least you don't have to worry about running your Saturday evenings to _Science-Fiction Theatre_ anymore."

"Oh come on, Dee," George protested, "that happened **once**! And it was a really good episode, too!"

Delae rolled her eyes and shook her head at Lorraine. "Good luck."

Then Daisy came forward, she wore an extremely flattering dress of dark blue, she hadn't come to the actual service, but had driven over for the reception. "That's the loveliest Wedding gown I've ever seen!" She gushed over Lorraine. "It's so modern! I hope I can wear something as pretty!"

"Thank you," Lorraine smiled at the girl, who she didn't know very well, since Daisy spent most of her time with her three older brothers and her father.

And of course, Alison, Lorraine was still a little uncomfortable around her, considering how badly their friendship had come to an end all those years ago, not to mention how bad of a friend Lorraine had been to her.

"You should be honoured," Alison began in a very solemn voice, "Daise is the world's harshest fashion critic."

Lorraine broke into a relieved smile, glad that Alison was going to be nice, she could have a very acid tongue.

"You look really nice too," Lorraine told her sincerely.

Alison rolled her eyes. "Daisy's assessment was I should stick to pedal pushers."

"I wouldn't say that," Lorraine shook her head, "that hat's really you."

Alison looked a little surprised, and straightened her small red beret, which matched her dress. "Thanks."

She moved on to speak to George. "I **told **you that you wouldn't faint, when are you going to start listening to your big sister?"

George rolled his eyes. "Oh, you're not going to play the big sister card are you? There's hardly a year between us!"

"I'm still older," Alison retorted with a smirk. "So bow to my wisdom."

"Ugh," George made a show of gagging. "I'm regretting sitting you at our table now."

"Too late, you're stuck with me now…just like you are with Lorraine," Alison threw a wink at Lorraine so she figured there were no hard feelings.

George put his arms around her and hugged her tight. "Luckily, Lorrie's one girl I'm **glad** to be stuck too."

"Oh, Georgie," she cooed back at him and lifted her lips for a kiss.

"Newlyweds, ick!" Alison pronounced.

George and Lorraine laughed as she hurried away.

After sharing a kiss, George declared. "Well, you've run the gamut of McFly relatives and have survived, the trophy's in the mail."

Lorraine laughed and gave him a loving squeeze she enjoyed meeting George's many relatives, just about all of them had come, except for his British cousins, who understandably couldn't make it. Lorraine was well aware that her mother and father didn't care for the McFlys, why, they wouldn't say, and Lorraine certainly saw nothing to dislike them for.

Lorraine and George were descended on by friends, mostly hers, who had all been invited to the Reception. The girls, all of whom Lorraine had known since Junior High chatted excitedly with her and congratulated George on his good luck.

"We're **both** lucky," Lorraine declared with absolute certainity, taking George's hand in hers.


	6. Chapter 6

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1958

12:10PM

* * *

Jennifer's head was in a whirl, she had never imagined she'd meet basically **all** of Marty's relatives, particularly not **this** way.

The largest contingent was by far his father's family, as Marty explained although George McFly had been an only child, Grandpa Max had been one of seven, all but one whom had married and had children of their own.

The reception therefore was bustling with McFlys, most of the male ones easily identifiable by what Marty called the McFly nose, which his father had, and his brother Dave to some extent, but Marty (to his immense relief) didn't.

There were also people at the reception who had not been at the Wedding – Jennifer could only figure that it was due to the chapel not being big enough to fit them all. They seemed to mostly be friends of Marty's mother, considering the way they were cluster around her, laughing and exclaiming over her Wedding dress.

She and Marty received quite a few curious looks, which had Marty fidgeting uncomfortably and looking about, no doubt for some sort of escape route. So far though, none of Mrs. McFly's friends had come over to ask them who they are and how they new the newlyweds.

The same could not be said for the McFlys, right now one of Marty's Great-Uncles was introducing himself in and his family.

"We've heard a lot about you," one of the uncle's children, a man about their age was saying to Marty. "You really turned George around, I mean it, Grandpa was completely stunned, I mean he'd been trying to get George to grow a backbone for **years!**"

Marty looked very uncomfortable, but managed smile. "Well, George always had it in him, I guess…"

"Dunno about that, he was a total walk-over, not as bad as Uncle Max –"

"Mike!" A woman, who Jennifer assume was his mother and therefore one of Marty's Great Aunts, scolded. "Don't talk about family like that." She gave the two of them a smile. "George was always very shy," she told them, "it's very nice to see him come out of his shell, especially when it came with such a lovely girl. Do you know Lorraine well?"

Marty gave a wry smile. "Oh yeah, I feel like I've known her all my life."

Jennifer suppressed a giggle.

"She's a great girl," the one called Mike spoke up, "I can't believe how different they are from one another! Do you know the whole story of how they got together? I swear George is holding out on us."

Marty flushed slightly, Jennifer was well aware why, Marty and his father had concocted up quite a plan to get Lorraine to fall out of love with Marty and **in** love with George. A plan he certainly wouldn't want to repeat to a group of people!

"Uh…well…" Marty shrugged, "I sort of introduced them to each other…"

"Really?" One of the girls asked eagerly. "Why would you do that?"

"Mya!" Marty's great-aunt shook her head. "Honestly."

"Aww, come on, Mom, would **you **have set up George with a girl like Lorraine?"

"I just thought they'd be good for each other," Marty improvised, before taking Jennifer's hand. "Er, can you excuse us for a moment."

The family looked rather surprised by his abruptness, but said it was nice meeting them and went off to mingle.

Marty rubbed his forehead. "Jeeze, I can't believe this, it's like walking on eggshells!"

"Oh come on, Marty," Jennifer tried to cheer him up. "We're not going **that** badly, I mean nobody's said we don't belong here. Good thing we're all dressed up in these suits, humm?"

"I knew wearing a suit was a bad idea," Marty grumbled, "if I hadn't been we would never have got invited into the church."

"Oh, come on, Marty, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Jen! Are you **insane?** Do you know how dangerous this all is? We could ruin everything."

"How? Your parents got married, didn't they? So you know that hasn't been changed, what could happen?"

"I dunno what could happen Jen, but something could…we have to get the Hell out of here."

Jennifer looked about, there was a whole row of double glass doors leading out onto the grounds of the Country Club. "We could sneak out one of those, couldn't we?"

A grin stretched across Marty's face and he dropped a quick kiss on her cheek.

"You're **brilliant!**" He crowed, and with that they headed towards the closest set of double doors.

But then Mrs. McFly's voice rang out. "Everyone, please find your seats! Lunch is served!"

Jennifer stopped, but Marty tugged insistently on her hand. "Come on," he whispered, "while no-one's looking."

The two were almost there, Marty reached out his hand to open them…

"Calvin! Claudia!"

Jennifer heard Marty groan. "So close!"

* * *

_Just like Mom_, Marty thought with a sigh, she had catered for more people, either that or the Club didn't mind providing an extra two meals.

To make matters even more difficult, his parents obviously didn't consider him and Jennifer **any** people, they were seated at the Bridal table!

There was obviously no escape in that situation, and he had to admit to being pretty hungry (having skipped lunch in his hurry to get to college on time for his presentation), so resigned himself to this a little more easily then anything else that had gone on so far.

He and Jennifer sat next to his mother's blonde friend, Betty (Marty had to repeat her name to himself a couple of times before it stuck), right next to her was his mother, then his father, then Stephen Carl, the Best Man and Babs, Stephen's girlfriend and one day wife and finally Aunt Alison.

Typical of wedding receptions (at least the ones he'd gone to) there were two different main courses, chicken or steak. He'd got chicken put in front of him, but had scrumptiously swapped with Jennifer, who didn't really like steak all that much.

"So, spill, Calvin," Betty leaned forward slightly to look at him. "What exotic locations have you been too?"

Marty almost choked on his mouthful of steak. He dreaded this question, he had of course travelled a few places with his family, in this reality at least, but he really had no idea where Coast Guards went.

Finally he swallowed and shrugged. "Here and there, it's not all that exciting."

She looked at him as if he was nuts. "Travelling the world not exciting? Those two are going to Hawaii," she gestured to Mom and Dad. "Lucky stiffs."

Mom laughed and winked at Marty. "She's being harping on about that for months!" She turned to Betty and wagged a finger at her. "You'll have to save up for it."

Betty groaned. "I guess I believe in miracles."

Once the main course had finished, people began to circulate before dessert and the Wedding Cake was presented.

Two identical men headed over, they looked extremely familiar… He'd met them before of course, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it….something about them reminded Marty of his brother Dave, it was probably the black curly hair.

"Lorrie!" One of them greeted Mom with a wide smile. "Delicious spread you got here, how much did you have to fork over for this."

"Uncle Dave!" Mom made a show of looking shocked. "Mind your manners!"

"You'll have to excuse David," his twin spoke up, and elbowed Dave in the ribs. "He has **no** sense of decorum."

The two greeted the others at the table in turn, pausing when they got to Marty and Jennifer.

"This is Calvin…well…he likes to be called Marty and this is his girlfriend, Claudia," Mom said to her uncles, before turning back to Marty and Jennifer. "This is David and Laurence, my father's little brothers."

"We had a lot of fun bringing down Sammy," Dave spoke dramatically. "When we could of course, it's kind of hard to outsmart someone who's more than ten years older than you!"

"Anyway, it's good to meet you two," Laurence said to Marty and Jennifer. "Lorraine's mentioned you a lot, and Sam has too."

"But the way he tells it I was expecting someone totally simple," Dave remarked with a chuckle.

"Uncle Dave," Mom said warningly.

"I'm paying the guy a compliment!"

Marty couldn't help but grin. "It's OK, Lorraine," he assured his mother.

Dave and Laurence excused themselves to speak to Great Aunt Millicent.

"My uncles are so crazy," Mom shook her head with a sigh. "But you have to love them. I was named for my Uncle Laurence actually, if it wasn't for him I would have been born in my grandparent's bathtub!"

Before that moment, Marty had never heard that story, but now he vaguely recalled it…along with the fact that Uncle Dave had…or would help Mom get to hospital for the birth of her first child, David McFly.

Even after three years this would happen, memories that he hadn't had before suddenly coming to him. Doc told him he had no idea how long that would last, since unlikely for the scientist, he couldn't even explain why it was happening in the first place.

"That wouldn't have been too bad," Betty teased. "You love baths!"

"Oh, be quiet."

"Hey guys, how you going? How you going?"

The voice was familiar and Marty looked up to see someone he remembered well and not just from the New Year's Eve parties his parents threw in the new reality. This guy was the one who'd asked Marty about 'CPR' the night of the _Enchantment Under the Sea Dance_.

"Hey, Lester," Dad greeted the guy with a smile. "Glad you could make it."

"Hey, wouldn't miss it for the world, nope wouldn't miss it."

There was more too, Mr. Lester had the rather strange and frankly annoying habit of repeating himself, especially when he was excited about something.

Like now.

"This is the first time I've ever been to a wedding reception, the food is great! Yep, really great."

Marty wondered how long this would go on, when suddenly Mr. Lester looked his way.

"Hey! I remember you!" He pointed straight at Marty and Jennifer, causing her to jump, he was almost shouting, his eyes wide. "Yeah, I remember you! Calvin Klein! CPR!"

"Uh…yeah…" Marty managed a smile. "How you going?"

Lester planted his hands on the table and leaned over it. "What's CPR?! Seriously, what is it?"

Marty stifled a groan, wishing he'd never mentioned that phrase back in 1955. But then how was he supposed to know it didn't exist as a word until sometime in the 60s?

"It's…it's something we learn in the Coast Guards," he finally said, hoping no-one at the table (all of whom were looking at the conversation unfolding) would look it up. "When someone's knocked out you know…"

"You took Tannen's wallet," Mr. Lester continued, his voice thankfully dropping in volume so that the entire hall didn't hear it. "Yep, you took it, I saw you."

"What are you talking about?" Mom looked at the guy as if he was totally insane. "Why would Calvin do that?"

"I saw him," Mr. Lester insisted. "Yep, I saw him."

Marty had of course, taken something from Biff's jacket that night, but it wasn't a wallet it had been a _Gray's Sports Almanac_, a book that wouldn't even exist until 2001 and one Biff would have used to make Hill Valley Hell on Earth, but Marty could hardly tell everyone **that**.

"That's ridiculous!" Mom looked very indignant, and Marty felt his stomach sink – this was **definitely** something that wouldn't have happened originally…

"Uh, Lester," Dad spoke up, "how's your store going?"

The diversion tactic worked, Marty breathed a sigh of relief as Mr. Lester turned to Dad and began telling him all about it.

"I'm **so** sorry," Mom said once he had left, she shook her head and shot a look at Dad. "He's a strange guy…he runs a very bizarre little group."

"Hey, it's not **that** strange," Dad protested, "it's a big universe, there has to be **something** out there."

Mom shook her head, Marty knew she enjoyed Dad's writing, but she didn't put stock in aliens.

"Intelligent life, huh?" Alison teased from the other end of the table. "Dunno about that, George, it's a bit hard to find it on Earth sometimes."

Everyone laughed.

"I don't know why you invited him," Mom turned to Dad, still looking upset.

"Well, he **was** my first proof-reader," Dad reminded her, "I never would have got my first short story published if it wasn't for him."

Mom sighed, but fortunately, let the subject drop.

_Where the Hell is Doc? _Marty wondered looking through the closest set of glass paned double doors in the hall. _He __**has**__ to have got back to the DeLorean ages ago…come on, get her and rescue us…somehow._

_

* * *

  
_

Doc shut the hood with a satisfied thud. It had taken a couple of hours, but he'd done it!

Stepping back he pulled the controller for the holographic generator out of his pocket and pointed it at the time machine. He tapped the commands into the keypad, pressed the enter key…

And the DeLorean immediately took on the appearance of a 1955 Studebaker.

"Success!" He cheered himself and walked around the time machine. The illusion was total, now he could get out of this alley and find where exactly his friends had ended up.

_If only I could remember what the invitation said!_ He berated himself, although he realised he was being slightly unfair on himself…it **had** been thirty years ago and it wasn't as if he'd had any pressing reason at the time to memorise the thing.

It would have made things a lot easier though, as it was he would have to go to the most popular reception type places until he found George and Lorraine's reception and there Marty and Jennifer. On the positive side it was at least an early afternoon on a Tuesday, so it wasn't as if he'd be overwhelmed by the amount of Wedding Parties going on.

Getting into the driver's seat he started the DeLorean, which no longer sounded like the 80s sports car that it was. The holographic generator, advanced as it was, didn't just replicate the visuals of the hologram, but the sound of it as well.

Backing the DeLorean out of the alley on the church side he headed towards town and the Civic Centre. Having lived in Hill Valley for nearly his entire life, he knew that was the most popular spot for these sorts of events. As he came into view of it though, he was pretty certain the McFly's **hadn't** chosen it, there were hardly any cars in the parking lot.

He heaved a sigh. _Nothing's easy for time-travellers, is it?_

He supposed he could be thankful that Hill Valley was a small town, still he had his work cut out for him. Making a u-turn he headed towards Hill Valley Park, it was after all a nice day and perhaps Lorraine and George had decided to chance fate and have an outdoor reception…

* * *

"It's time for the speeches," Lorraine whispered in his ear.

"Do I have to?" George groaned, he'd been having such a good time...

Lorraine gave him a stern look, but then she smiled at him slyly and dropped a gentle kiss on his lips. "For me," she whispered against them.

Sighing, George got to his feet, in front of him were nearly seventy people most of who were out of their seats speaking to each other. He had to clear his throat before he could manage to speak.

"Uh…attention everybody…please," he held up his hands. "It's uh…time for the speeches."

His voice wasn't very loud, but fortunately the people seated at the tables closest to the Bridal one heard and began tapping their glasses with their forks until everyone got the message and turned George's way. That, he thought, was a hundred times worse…

"Um…well, I'd like to thank you all for coming today, Lorraine and I are really glad you could make it, especially those of you who took time off work. Sorry about having it on a Tuesday, but…um…time got away from us."

"When doesn't it?" Mike called from his table, to laughter from most of the McFly relatives.

"Thanks, Mike," George shot him a look. "Anyway…um…as Best Man, Steve will make the first speech, hope you're ready for it. And Steve, try and keep it clean, there's kids here."

He practically fell back into his seat as Stephen got up, Lorraine took his hand and stroked it, which did make it worth it.

"Thanks," Stephen began, giving those assembled an easy smile. "Well, when George first asked me to be his Best Man, I said to him 'What took you so long? Haven't you always known that's what I am?'" Catcalls and applause rang out, until Mike held up a hand. "Seriously though, I'm really honoured to be part of George and Lorraine's wedding, even though George and I haven't been friends for very long. As I'm sure most of you know, George and Lorraine's first date was one to remember, it's not every day that the school's biggest square knocks out the school's biggest bully."

There was quite a cheer at this, mostly from Lorraine's friends, who were sitting at a nearby table, Lester too let out a loud whoop.

"No-one could have imagined it, really, until then George was the sort of guy you didn't remember. You'd run into him and wonder when did we get a new student? He hardly talked to anyone, and certainly not any girls."

"Gee, Steve, don't build him up too much, he'll never be able to get out the door with a swelled head." Alison called from her seat to laughter.

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is, you were a complete square, right George?" Stephen turned to him.

George managed a small grin. "I plead the Fifth, thanks."

"Proof enough," Stephen shot back, before turning back to the crowd. "But underneath this square was a knight in shining armour, at least that's what Lorraine told me to say."

"It's true!" She declared.

"It is," Stephen admitted, "George swooped in and saved Lorraine from Biff Tannen, Hill Valley High's resident bully and well…the results can be seen today."

The crowd 'awwwwed' and Lorraine gave George a quick kiss to prove the point.

Stephen rolled his eyes dramatically. "It's really too much how they go on…you can just bet that in thirty years time they'll still be acting like this."

Out the corner of his eye George could have sworn that Marty and Jennifer got the oddest look on their faces as Steve said that while everyone laughed, but with a shrug he dismissed it.

Stephen had raised his glass of champagne, the Country Club had kindly decided to look the other way since a large number of the guests were under drinking age.

"To George and Lorraine and many, many happy years of marriage."

"Here! Here!" The crowd shouted and there was the sound of champagne flutes clinking together.

George barely sipped his, ordinarily he wouldn't drink at all, but he figured he better do the traditional thing.

Stephen sat down to cheers and applause and then Babs got to her feet.

"When Lorraine told me she was getting married the first thing I asked was – 'What? To just **one** boy?'"

The crowd burst into laughter and there were a few more catcalls. Lorraine's cheeks reddened, but she still smiled.

"I'd know Lorraine for six years by then and I have to say for most of those I'd never seen her settle with one boy for more than a month – don't give me that look, Lor, it's true! – so the news she was getting married, wow! But at the same time, it wasn't all that surprising…since the night George saved Lorraine you could pretty much tell they were always going to be together. Lorraine, Betty and I love to talk about our future plans and practically from the night of the dance all of Lorraine's would include George."

There were more 'awwws' and George felt pretty touched himself, to think that Lorraine, who could have had anyone she wanted had chosen him!

"We did, however, expect that she'd wait until she graduated before tying the knot! But when Lorraine gets an idea…" There were knowing laughs from those who knew Lorraine well. "But, it's all gone off without a hitch! Thanks in no small part to the assistance of Betty and I."

"But you don't want to toot your own horn, right, Babs!" Someone called.

"Of course not, I leave that for others to do…right now, I propose a toast to the Bride and Groom! Thanks for a great day and an excuse to get off work!"

"Here! Here!"

After everyone set their glasses down, Sam Baines got to his feet.

George gulped…it was of course traditional, but he kind of hoped…

"As my eldest child and daughter, Lorraine has always been very special to me," Sam began, in a surprisingly soft tone. "Stella and I admittedly spoiled her for the first few years of her life, but it was always hard to resist her smile." He paused and blinked hard a few times. "She's a smart girl, our Lorraine, and well…we **do **trust her, so…I wish her all the very best in the years to come. I love you, dear."

There was a touched silence and Lorraine stood up and hurried over to her father and gave him a big hug and kiss, which was met with applause.

When she came back and sat down she had tears in her eyes. "Dad hasn't said anything so sweet to me since my tenth birthday," she sniffled.

George put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze, well aware that Mr and Mrs Baines had been far from overjoyed that Lorraine was going out with him and even **more** upset when she had told them they were getting married. But maybe things wouldn't be so bad with the Baines's after all…at least, he could hope so.

* * *

Jennifer wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Mr. Baines' speech had been so sweet! Especially after how aloof he had been, he really did love his daughter though, and had swallowed his pride. She could only hope that **her** father would be that nice when the time came.

She took Marty's hand and squeezed it, wondering if he could guess what she was thinking.

He turned to her and she realised that he didn't, still that made her smile, typical Marty!

Marty's mother got to her feet now, looking a little teary eyed herself, but she gave everyone a glowing smile.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Mr. Baines called gruffly.

"I want to thank you all for coming to celebrate George's and Is special day," Mrs. McFly began once the laughter had died down. "I particularly want to thank my brothers Milton and Toby for seating everyone in the chapel this morning, I was a little unsure if you'd all fit."

Marty's uncles made a show of waving to the crowd, who applauded them politely.

"And of course, I have to thank my wonderful Maid of Honour and Bridesmaid, without Babs and Betty I never could have put this Wedding together. Had I left it up to George, I'm sure we'd still be waiting a few years from now for him to finish making the arrangements!"

"Hey, I proposed didn't I?" Marty's father protested.

"George and I also thank Steve, for being George's Best Man…otherwise his cousin Michael would have had to do it and we all know what trouble he can be."

"I resent that!" Mike shouted.

"I'd also like to thank Father Michael, who presided over such a lovely service, thank you, Father."

Father Michael, who to Jennifer's surprise had been invented along to the Reception and was seated at the table with Marty's great-grandparents and the family of one of his Great-Uncles, bowed his head as he was applauded.

Mrs. McFly then gave Mr. McFly's hand a discrete tug and he got to his feet, slowly.

"And George and I would like to thank a very special person, who we didn't think would be able to make it today."

"Oh no," Jennifer heard Marty groan under his breath.

Mrs McFly gave her husband a nudge.

"Um…it was a big surprise," Marty's father began and gave a nervous cough, "since he said he wouldn't be able to come. But I guess the Coast Guard decided to be nice."

"We want to thank him because he was the one who helped George and I get together." Marty's mother said, and held a hand out towards Marty. "So, Calvin…Marty, we'd like to thank you most of all."

Marty's mother picked up her champagne glass and motioned for her husband to do the same.

"To Calvin!" Mrs. McFly finished raising her glass high.

"To Marty," George said at the same time.

Jennifer looked at her boyfriend, who looked as if he'd much rather be anywhere else.

There was a cheer from the crowd, although quite a few of them probably didn't know the first thing about Marty.

"Finally, cake and desert will be served soon, but in the meantime feel free to mingle and go out on the grounds, it's a lovely club."

As his parents sat down and everyone went back to talking to each other and some people starting moving from table to table, once attention turned away from the Bridal Table Marty got to his feet and pulled her up with him.

"This is our chance," he whispered to her.


	7. Chapter 7

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1958

1:21PM

* * *

Doc had always loved the parks of Hill Valley, he was sure there wasn't a better town to bring up kids or own dogs in.

But right now, it was biting him in the posterior.

A good hour had to have passed in his hunt for George and Lorraine McFly's Wedding Reception, but no luck so far.

He was now pulled over in a quiet street, trying to figure out where else to look and regretting the fact that in modifying the DeLorean one of the first things to go was the air conditioning unit. He'd been planning to install a smaller unit (courtesy of a trip to the future), but he hadn't got around to it yet, it hadn't seemed that important since the occupants of the time machine rarely spent too long in it.

But with the temperature outside pushing a hundred degrees…

Shaking his head, he returned his attention to the task at hand, finding where the McFly Wedding Reception was located. There were of course a fair share of restaurants in Hill Valley, but he certainly didn't have the inclination to search every single one! That would take hours!

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to think, trying to remember that invitation…

But it just wasn't coming to him, it was just too long ago.

There was just one option.

He might not be able to remember what was on the invitation, but he remembered where he put it.

And he or rather his younger counterpart was not in town and was in no danger of returning.

There was just one problem, he didn't have a key to his mansion, seeing as it had burned down more than twenty years ago. And his younger counterpart hadn't left a spare key outside in those days – these days, rather.

_I'm going to have to break into my own house,_ Doc realised with a sigh.

The things he did for Marty McFly.

* * *

"Marty!"

_So close!_

Marty and Jennifer were almost out the door when George called out to them.

Turning back to his father, Marty managed a grin. "Hey, nice speech."

"I hope Lorrie didn't embarrass the Hell out of you," his father gave him a sheepish grin. "I know I'd hate it if someone made a big speech about me out of nowhere."

Marty shrugged. "Oh, well…" that hadn't really bothered him at all, in fact if it had been any time else he'd probably feel pretty honoured. But **not** thirty years in the past! Not when he wouldn't be born for almost ten years!

"But we really mean it, you know," his father put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know if I can ever thank you for helping me out, you heard how Steve described me, if you hadn't shown up I'd still be going on like that!"

George didn't need to tell Marty twice! He'd **lived** what had happened originally…

"Well, a little self-confidence goes a long way, you know," he answered.

"When I was a kid my Aunt Beth used to tell me that, but I never believed her, I mean it sounded a little too easy…" George replied, then shook his head. "I should have listened to her I guess."

"You should always listen to your Auntie!"

Marty looked over his father's shoulder to see his Great Aunt Beth with a grin on her face.

"Aunt Beth," his father shook his head, "you have the **worst **habit of listening to other people's conversations."

"Hey," Great-Aunt Beth replied defensively, "you were talking about me."

Dad gave Marty a sheepish smile and then turned back to Great-Aunt Beth. "Fair enough," he admitted.

"I'm really glad to meet you two after what the speeches revealed, this one here," she gestured to George, "never gave too many details. To think some animal was trying to attack Lorraine in the middle of a school dance!" Great-Aunt Beth shook her head, a look of disgust on her face.

Marty shared her feelings, knowing what Biff would do if he had the money to, the guy gave him the creeps whenever he saw him, at least until he remembered the Biff of this timeline was pretty much harmless.

"It's not something Lorrie really wants to talk about," Dad said, his voice serious.

"Well, of course I'm not going to go up and discuss it with her," Great-Aunt Beth assured him, patting his shoulder. "It's just quite a drama," she turned to Marty. "Where do you fall in exactly, you took Lorraine to the dance? How did you end up separated from her?"

Marty swallowed, **that** wasn't something he particularly wanted to explain and he could tell by the look on his father's face he didn't want to go into it either!

"It was a pretty bizarre night…I think I drank a bit too much, you know," Marty gave his Great-Aunt his most disarming smile. "I don't quite remember, I'm pretty sure Biff's gang was involved."

"Gang? In **High School?**" Great-Aunt Beth raised her eyebrows and frowned. "Honestly, what on Earth is the world coming to?"

Marty shrugged, hoping that would be considered a good enough answer.

It seemed it was since Great-Aunt Beth turned to Dad. "Where's your lovely bride? I thought you two were inseparable!" She gave him a wink.

Dad blushed slightly. "She's getting waylaid by her friends," he pointed over to a large group of women. "I managed to escape from it."

Great – Aunt Beth gave a laugh. "A narrow escape, I'm sure!"

Marty sneaked another look towards the open double doors, wondering if there was any chance he and Jennifer could make a break for it.

Before he could decide one way or another though, a voice boomed. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The Wedding Cake is about to be brought out."

"That's your cue," Great-Aunt Beth declared, giving Dad a nudge.

"I'm going, I'm going," he told her and hurried over to meet up with Mom and head over to the Bridal Table where two kitchen hands were placing a traditional three tiered Wedding Cake.

"Looks delicious," Great-Aunt Beth turned to them with a smile, as the guests poured back into the hall and crowded around the Bridal Table all hoping for the best vantage point. Marty threw a look at Jennifer and she gave him a hopeless shrug.

_We might as well accept it,_ Marty decided at that moment, _there's no way out of here…_

At least he supposed they'd get some cake. Squeezing Jennifer's hand he lead her towards the table, his mother spotting them and giving them a smile came on over and lay a hand on both their arms. "Come on you two, come over here," she pulled the two of them over to stand with Babs, Betty, Stephen and Alison.

Marty suppressed a sigh. _I guess we can throw being inconspicuous out the window too._

_

* * *

  
_

Doc was trying to be as nonchalant as possible as he walked up the sidewalk towards his old home (it was interesting seeing the mansion again) as if he belonged there so as not to arouse suspicion.

He also hadn't figured on so many kids being out on the street, having forgotten it was school holidays, he wondered if he stuck out like a sore thumb, not so much because of the hat this time, after all it was still a social norm if not a downright rule that men over the age of twenty-five wear a hat outdoors at all times, but the rather loud and colourful shirt he had on (one of his favourites, red with yellow pictures of the atomic symbol) wasn't exactly typical wear.

Luckily, most of the children seemed caught up in their games and he hadn't seen a single adult about, he hadn't attracted so much as one look, so far, so good.

As the old mansion came into sight, Doc took a moment to reacquaint himself with it. The doors were solid oak, with heavy locks, there'd be no getting through them, he'd have to pick a window and hope he could jimmy the lock. He **really** didn't want to have to smash one, apart from the possibility of attracting attention, he had no idea of how the timeline would be affected.

In the next instant he found himself on the ground, on his side, winded and the entire left side of his body aching.

Doc put his hand to his head, realising that his hat had gone flying off when he had fallen over…whatever.

What **had** he fallen over.

"Mister! Hey, mister are you OK?!"

Doc blinked a few times, feeling as if he had stars in front of his eyes, fortunately they cleared quickly and he focussed on the small boy standing in front of him, looking horrified.

"Huh?"

"I'm **really** sorry! You fell over my ball," the kid apologised holding up a baseball. "I didn't see you."

_Well, at least I know I __**was**__ keeping a low profile,_ Doc thought ruefully.

"That's all right," he quickly reassured the kid, locating his hat on the grass a foot away and hurrying to get it back on his head. "Accidents happen."

"You look really familiar," the kid continued, giving Doc a start. Those were **exactly** the words he didn't want to hear.

But all he could think of to say way. "Uhhh…."

"Yeah!" The kid's eyes were wide and he pointed at Doc. "You look like crazy old Doctor Brown, he lives in that mansion there." He pointed over to the Brown Mansion. "He does all kinds of whacky experiments, no-one's seen 'im for **weeks**! Are you his dad or somethin'?"

"Uh, no, no, I'm not," Doc assured the kid jamming his hat so far down on his brow he could hardly see. He unsteadily got to his feet and was immediately hit with a wave of disorientation, and feared he was going to end up flat on his back again.

"You OK, mister?" The kid asked again.

"Fine, fine," Doc told the kid, as the dizziness passed, he had one thing to be thankful for, most kids in Riverside Drive had never been particularly polite to him – the influence of their parents no doubt – he wouldn't have been surprised if one had tripped him over on purpose.

This kid was at least treating him like a human being, maybe because he didn't really believe he was crazy old Doctor Brown, but he certainly didn't want the kid to approach his younger self and mention this meeting. Although he supposed his younger self would brush it off, but he really didn't want to risk it.

"Have a good day," he told the kid before hurrying off, past his mansion since he could hardly just amble up the driveway now.

He took a look at the watch on his right wrist – a quarter to two all ready! Considering that the wedding service had finished around eleven-thirty and Doc was pretty sure that the reception would have started not too long afterward, it would be ending soon, at least he'd imagine so, not that he would really know…better to be safe than sorry.

He ducked behind a privet hedge and peeked out to see what the kid was up to, he'd gone back over to the front yard of a house across the street where a group of kids stood.

"Way to knock an old codger off his feet," Doc heard one of the kid's chuckle.

He was rather insulted, he was hardly a codger!

"He's all right," the other kid replied defensively. "He walked off didn't he?"

The voices of the kids became distant, apparently they had decided to play in the backyard instead.

Doc pulled his hat up so he could see a bit better. Riverside Drive was now quiet and taking the opportunity Doc made a swift break for the driveway of his mansion.

In a few moments he was behind the back of the mansion and well out of sight from anyone on the road.

He hoped that one of the windows might be open, but that was a bit too optimistic, the place was locked up tight. He cursed himself for being so paranoid…most people in the Hill Valley of 1958 didn't bother to lock their windows even if they were going out of town. _Not Doctor E.L Brown, though I couldn't really risk anyone getting in here._

So he forgave himself for that, thinking back over the years he had had his fair share of teens playing pranks and he figured they probably **would** have tried to break in had he left anything open.

Still, it made things a whole lot harder.

Sticking his hands in his pockets Doc began looking for something to jimmy a lock.

* * *

George smiled as Lorraine came to stand beside him having herded Marty and Claudia over to stand with the rest of the Bridal party. The guy seemed rather jumpy, but George couldn't blame him, although Marty had never struck George as the sort who'd be nervous in these types of situation. But then it had been a few years.

"How're we going to cut this thing?" He asked his bride, realising there wasn't a knife next to the cake.

"Dad brought his Navy sword," Lorraine told him, putting an arm around his waist.

"You think that was a good idea?" George made a show of tugging on his shirt collar.

"Oh you," Lorraine scolded mockingly, giving him a swat on the arm.

"I guess I'm safe enough here with all the witnesses." He added, earning a slightly harder swat and a giggle from his wife.

At that moment the crowd parted and Sam Baines, looking grim came forward holding the sword in question. George couldn't help gulping a little nervously, Mr. Baines certainly looked like he could cause a serious injury with that thing!

"Everyone, my father has given us permission to use his ceremonial naval sword," Lorraine explained. "Which is a great honour! Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, sweetheart," Mr. Baines managed a small smile as he held the sword, hilt end first out towards Lorraine, who took it, pulling it from its scabbard.

There was gasp of appreciation at the way it shined in the light.

"Now she's beautiful **and** deadly!" Mike called.

"Watch it," Lorraine cautioned with a good natured smile.

George put his hands over hers and they held it over the cake in preparation to cut it.

"We want to thank all of you for being part of our special day," Lorraine announced again, to cheers.

Sensing that he should probably say something as well, George added. "Yeah, uh, thanks."

There was laughter from those assembled.

"OK, ready to go?" Lorraine prompted, then added teasingly. "You're not going accidentally cut your hand off, are you?"

"I'm not **that** clumsy," George returned, but winked to show there were no hard feelings.

"Glad to hear it, let's go," she planted a kiss on his cheek and together they cut into the cake to applause and the flash of the camera belonging to the professional photographer who had just shown up.

As they pulled the knife out of the cake after making the cut Mike called out. "Hey, blade's dirty! You have to kiss the closest girl on your right."

That of course was Lorraine.

"Hey, don't give 'em an excuse," Alison chided.

George stuck his tongue out at her and pulled Lorraine to him for a long kiss.

"Mmm," Lorraine whispered against his lips as they parted. "You're the best kisser in the whole world."

"I know," he grinned slyly at her. "You're not bad either."

"Is that any way to romance your bride?" She wagged a finger at him.

"I'm still learning," he told her.

At that point the two kitchen hands took the cake away so the bottom tier could be cut up for the guests.

"Well, let me give you a tip," Lorraine grabbed his hand. "Leading the bride in a waltz is **very** romantic."

George gave a melodramatic groan. "If I must…protect your feet!"

Lorraine laughed and squeezed his hand.

* * *

Although Doc would never say so publicly, he'd learnt a lot of skills over the course of his life and not all of them legal.

The window lock was a little harder than he anticipated, but within a few minutes he was rewarded with a click as the lock gave way.

Slowly, Doc pulled up the sash and opened the window wide, thankfully that his younger self had never considered putting in an alarm system.

He clambered up on the sill and carefully put one foot down, the last thing he needed was to break an ankle tripping over something.

The floor under the window was clear however and soon he was cautiously moving across the huge lounge area towards the stairs. He couldn't really remember where he'd put the invitation to George and Lorraine's wedding, but he was pretty sure it was in his study somewhere.

It was **definitely** strange been inside the mansion again, full as it was with old memories…photos of his parents and grandparents hanging on the walls as he ascended the staircase. The smell of old books filled the air and he knew the carpeting under his feet had been made by hand and purchased at quite a price.

As he got to the top of the stairs he continued down the hall to his study, which had been his childhood bedroom.

It was dark inside since it was his habit to draw the curtains before he left, since there were a lot of papers spread out that he didn't want to fade from sun exposure.

Doc pulled open a few of the curtains letting the strong summer sunlight spill in. The study was marginally cleaner than it usually would have been since his younger self had packed up all of the time-travel calculations to take to the East Coast.

He decided that his best bet was to search through the top drawer of his desk, where he usually tossed miscellaneous items.

It was practically bursting at the seams and he realised he would actually have to empty it out, he took a few moments though, to try and memorise how everything had been flung in there, although he really didn't rate his chances of putting everything back exactly the right way. He'd have to hope that his younger self didn't notice anything amiss.

Doc lifted out the entire contents of the drawer and stacked it down on the desk. The drawer hadn't been emptied out in a while, and it certainly showed, there was stuff in there from the early 50s!

But half way through…

"Eureka!"

The invitation, finely written on expensive parchment grade cream coloured card declared:

_Together with their families_

_Lorraine Julie Baines and George Douglas McFly _

_Request the honour of the presence of_

_Emmet Brown _

_at their Wedding _

_The Service will take place at St. Patrick's Lady Chapel on _

_Tuesday August 12__th__ at 11:00am _

_Afterwards, please join us for the Reception, which will take place at _

_The Banquet Hall _

_Hill Valley Country Club - 7332 River Road from 12:00pm._

Doc clapped a hand to his forehead. "Great Scott! So obvious!" He berated himself. The Country Club had only just been completed the year before and he now recalled that he'd being quite impressed that George and Lorraine had booked it.

He returned the invitation and attempted put the pile together as best he could before placing it back in the drawer.

Pulling the curtains closed he hurried out of the study down the stairs to the window, removing the pin and setting the lock before climbing back out of the window and closing it carefully.

"Mission accomplished," he congratulated himself, before pausing. "Well, part of it…"

He had a feeling that the second part of the mission was going to be every bit harder than the first…

* * *

Lorraine held George's arm tightly as they headed over to the area of the hall that had been set aside as a dance floor. She didn't say so, but she was rather nervous about dancing the Bridal Waltz as well, even if they **had** taken lessons.

Still, it wasn't as if those invited would give them a hard time about it and it was the thought that counted.

There was no band, since the sting quartet Wedding service had been expensive enough, luckily the Country Club had a fantastic sound set up. The first strains of the waltz beginning as she and George reached the centre of the dance floor.

"I can't remember how we even start off," George whispered his voice slightly panicky.

She giggled and manoeuvred their hands into the right positions "Like this, remember?"

George nodded, then appeared to be praying.

"Just remember to start on your left foot," she prompted with a sly grin. "Ready? One, two, three…"

George narrowly missed stepping on her dress as he took the first step, but fortunately she was quick enough to get out of the way. It didn't take too long for her to end up being the one leading, since Mother had insisted on dance lessons a few years ago. She had been a little rusty when she and George had taken the class, but she'd picked it up again pretty fast.

"See, nothing to it," she reassured him as they got into the rhythm… mostly.

George gave her an extremely sceptical glance and almost tripped himself up, Lorraine decided they better just concentrate on the steps.

Their guests surrounded them watching, a smile spread across Lorraine's face and she gave her friends a wink as she spotted them over George's shoulder.

As she was certain he would, George picked it up and even twirled her under his arm, Lorraine couldn't help hamming it up a bit and their guests applauded and laughed.

By the end George was feeling brave enough to dip her as the last strains of the song played, which was greeted by 'awwws' and more applause.

"I told you, you'd be fine," she hugged him tightly and gave him a quick kiss, before hurrying over to take her father's hand.

"Oh, I don't think so," Dad shook his head gruffly,

"Come on, Dad, its traditional!" Lorraine cajoled him and gave him her brightest smile.

Dad heaved a sigh, but allowed himself to be lead out, and proved to be quite he expert waltzer.

George meanwhile was being pulled around the dance floor by his step-mother, who was also quite the expert. Lorraine couldn't help giggling at the look on her husband's face.

And soon enough guests were pairing up and joining them on the dance floor, Babs and Stephen, Aunt Millicent and Uncle Gus, Uncle Stuart and Aunt Nicole, Roxanne and John, George's uncles and aunts and cousins.

Betty even managed to get Father Michael out onto the floor!

Lorraine and George came back together and she squeezed his hands. "This is so much fun!"

"Speak for yourself, Dee almost pulled my arms off!"

She laughed and kissed his cheek. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad! Dip me again."

George raised his eyebrows. "You trust me to do that?"

"Of course, I do," she winked, "I feel as light as a feather when I'm with you."

"What man could resist that," George sighed, and dipped her back, then grinned. "How about you dip **me?**"

Lorraine burst into laughter. "Are you insane?"

"What? You think I'm too heavy or something?"

"Of course!"

"So it begins," George huffed.

She titled her head at him curiously. "What?"

"Well, we've been married for only three hours and you're already taking me down. I was warned of this."

"Oh please," she scoffed, "fine, I'll dip you."

George stopped her with a kiss. "I'm just kidding, you'd never manage to hold me up."

"Hmmm, well, I think **I've** just been taken down," she began, then gave a small squeak of surprise as George dipped her way back!

"Nope, **now** you're taken down." George growled, wriggling his eyebrows comically before planting a steamy kiss on her lips.

* * *

"Aww, you're parents are so sweet," Jennifer sighed, it had all ready been said, but it was true!

Marty stared at as if she were nuts. "You think making out on the dance floor is sweet?"

"They're hardly making out," Jennifer insisted. "They're just having fun, I think it's really romantic."

Marty shook his head and she could tell he was bemoaning women, a typical male response. Marty could of course be romantic, but she supposed it wasn't such a surprise he wouldn't think of his parents that way…even if he **had **seen them as teenagers once before.

She couldn't help wondering what her **own** parents had been like. Her mother had died twelve years before, Jennifer remembered her very well and knew that her parents' had been happy, but at that age she'd never considered any romance.

Now she wished she could go to **their** wedding. Not that she would ever say so to Marty! He'd complete flip out!


	8. Chapter 8

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1958

1:58PM

* * *

It was only when he arrived at the Country Club Doc realised the dilemma.

He hadn't considered **how** he was going to find Marty and Jennifer, or more particularly how to find them while being inconspicuous.

He pulled the DeLorean/Studebaker to the side of the road before entering the gates of the Country Club. He'd never been there before, but he knew it was a pretty good chance there'd be valets and there was absolutely no way he could allow anyone get to close to the Time Machine.

But he couldn't exactly stroll up the driveway to the front doors either, that would just arouse a whole lot of suspicion, to say nothing of the fact that he was hardly appropriately attired.

"Damnit, why didn't I give Marty a walkie talkie?" He berated himself once again, making a note to provide everybody with one the next time he time travelled, which after today's events would be a while.

As it was now, there was only one thing he **could** do, sneak onto the grounds and hope that he could spot Marty and Jennifer and they could spot him without anyone noticing.

Thankfully the golf course was there which would provide plenty of cover and since this was the late 50s there really wasn't anything in the way of security.

First though, Doc had to park the DeLorean properly so it wouldn't attract any attention, there really wasn't anywhere to park near the Country Club, so he had to resign himself to making a U-turn and headed back toward the main road, a good half mile away and walking back towards the Club.

He just hoped that the Reception hadn't or didn't end before he could get there or that Marty and Jennifer hadn't all ready escaped, he had of course made frequent bypasses of the alleyway where they'd parked the DeLorean originally, but as of the last pass a few minutes ago, there was no sign of them.

So, Doc was pretty sure that they were still in the Banquet Hall of the Club and hopefully weren't doing **anything** to disrupt the space time continuum.

* * *

Marty gasped and practically dragged Jennifer to him as he ducked behind Aunt Alison.

Ever since the photographer had shown up, it had been like some sort of athletic event, avoiding having either his or Jennifer's face photographed. He was pretty sure the odd poses he had put himself and her in were going to be talking points once the photos came back and Mom started putting them in the album, but there was one thing Marty knew...

There would **definitely** be trouble with the space time continuum if there was a photo of him and Jennifer floating around. Especially if when they got back to 1988 and arrived at the Anniversary party in the **exact** same clothes! Marty made a mental note to get changed and tell Jennifer to as well when they got back to 1988.

Jennifer though wasn't particularly pleased about being hauled around.

"Could you at least give a warning?" She asked, when he finally let her go and she could take a breath.

"Sorry, but there's not a lot of time, that guy is all over the place."

"That's how they operate," Jennifer sighed, "but Marty, do you **really** think we can avoid not getting in **any** photos?"

"Oh we'll be in 'em, just not our faces," Marty gave her a wry grin.

Jennifer laughed. "Your parents are going to wonder about that, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but as long as they don't greet us when we get to the party by passing out from the shock of realising **I'm** Marty Klein, I don't really care."

"So you'll never tell your parents the truth?"

Marty shrugged. "I dunno…I mean, I don't want Doc to get in trouble, I can't imagine my parents would be very impressed that he made a deal with some terrorists to get the time machine to work. Even **I** think that's insane…Not only that, but we don't want everyone and their brother knowing about the Time Machine, can you imagine how much shit would hit the fan? I don't think Dad would be able to keep the secret to be honest."

"You're probably right," Jennifer admitted with a nod. "I mean, he's a sci-fi writer, I guess…he'd probably write about it at least."

"And imagine how much my Mom would flip out if she ever found out that she'd been hitting on her own **son**." He gave a small shudder, it wasn't really something he liked to think about either.

Jennifer pulled a face. "Ugh, I'm with you there, if **I** ever went out with my future son, I'd really rather never know about it."

Marty cracked a smile. "Don't worry, I think you're safe, I'll make sure **our** kids know about the dangers of time travel!"

At that moment Mom and Dad danced by, Mom immediately coming to a halt and reaching out to take Marty's hands. "Come on, let's dance!"

"Oh, I don't know…"

"You can't turn down the bride," his mother scolded and gave him a wink. "It's very rude."

He looked over at Jennifer, and noticed out the corner of his eye his mother giving his father a none too subtle nudge.

"Oh…er…" he reached out and took her hand. "Would you like to dance…I won't step on your toes, I swear…"

Jennifer looked at Marty and gave a barely noticeable shrug, obviously there wasn't much they could do about it, so they let themselves be lead out onto the dance floor.

"We never did get to dance," Mom commented as she lead him in what he supposed was a waltz.

_Well, I guess I should be glad she's decided not to dwell on that,_ Marty tried to console himself and avoid tripping over his feet at the same time.

"Claudia's such a lovely girl," Mom continued, and then blushed slightly. "I really am sorry that I never asked if you had a girlfriend, I should have known I guess…"

"No, hey, it's fine," Marty assured her, not wanting to go into too much detail about Jennifer…and also acutely aware that the photographer was hovering nearby.

"And really, I know I've said it before, but I can't thank you enough for coming that was so sweet of you, George and I were **so** disappointed when Dr. Brown said you wouldn't be able to make it, what made you change your mind?"

Marty really had no idea what to say to that… "Er…my last duty as a Coast Guard," he improvised. "I have to turn in my last report to the Coast Guard station I began at. In San Francisco…." At that moment the all too obvious excuse for escape came to him! "Actually, we're kind of due there pretty soon."

"Oh no, how soon? George and I are heading to San Francisco too, to the airport, maybe we could drive you?"

The invitation caught Marty completely off guard and he came to a rather abrupt stop almost sending him and Mom tripping over each other.

"Sorry, I'm not much a dancer," he apologised and tugged a little on his collar. "No, no that's fine, Claudia and I have our own way to get there."

Mom giggled. "It **would **be pretty strange for you to show up at the Coast Guard Station in a car with white ribbons on it!"

Somehow, Marty managed a small smile.

"You will stay for the cake though? The baker who made it said it's really something!"

"Uh…well," Marty shifted uncomfortable, he had lost track of time and couldn't exactly look at his watch, since it was an electronic one that wouldn't exist for nearly thirty years. He cursed himself for not been able to even make an educated guess, it was something he and his father, even in the original timeline, shared.

At that moment though, there was quite a lot of activity as eight or so kitchen hands returned to the room, each carrying a tray with numerous plates of cake. There was hardly any reason to turn it down now, and it did look rather appetising.

"Sure," Marty shrugged resignedly, at least once he and Jennifer had a piece they'd be able to make their get away without attracting unwanted comments.

Mom lead him back over to where Dad and Jennifer were, taking hold of his arm and leaving Jennifer to return to Marty's side.

"All right everyone!" Mom called waving a hand to attract the attention of the guests. "Cake time!"

"Took you long enough!" Cousin Mike called from the other side of the room.

"Are you ever **not** hungry?" One of his sisters replied to laughter.

"Let's get a piece, thank Mom and Dad and then get the Hell out of here," Marty whispered in Jennifer's ear.

She nodded and the two hurried forward to be first in line after the bride and groom.

* * *

The cake was not a traditional one a fruit cake with marzipan icing, it was instead a chocolate cake with fresh whipped cream and jam between two layers and vanilla frosting. George prepared to take a bite, when suddenly his cheek felt wet and laughter broke out all around him.

"Ugh, what!" He brought his hand up and came away with vanilla frosting on his finger. He grabbed a napkin and wiped it off his cheek.

"Classy, Lorrie, really classy," he made a show of giving his wife a stern look.

She though just giggled and winked at him. "Oh, come on, Georgie, its tradition!"

"Yeah, I suppose…" George sighed and then scooped up some frosting with his finger and drew it down Lorraine's cheek, she shrieked.

The laughter in the room increase in volume and there were catcalls.

"Tradition," he laughed.

Lorraine took the napkin from him and wiped her cheek. "You're so naughty," she told him.

She put her arm through his and led him away from the table so others got get a piece.

"Marty and Claudia are getting ready to leave," Lorraine told him swallowing a forkful.

"Really?" George looked around for the couple, slightly confused, the reception still had an hour to go.

"Marty told me that he has to go to San Francisco to report to the Coast Guards," Lorraine sighed. "I guess they can't wait."

"Maybe he'll remember to write this time."

Lorraine laughed and nudged him. "Oh don't be so hard on him, we can't **all** be literary giants."

"It's nice that at least **one** person thinks so."

"Come on, let's go," she finished her last bite of cake and George did the same, setting aside their plates they headed over to where Marty and Claudia were eating their cake rather quickly.

"Hey, didn't you two learn about indigestion?" George couldn't help asking.

"Sorry," Marty said swallowing.

"It's really good cake," Claudia added.

"It's great isn't it?" Lorraine agreed. "Fortunately there's enough for a second serve."

"Well, uh…" Marty finished his last forkful. "I'm afraid we can't stay."

Lorraine sighed. "We figured as much, it's a shame you can't stay longer. How long are you two going to be in San Francisco, George and I will be back from the Honeymoon on Monday. Maybe you can stop through on your way back?"

Marty gave a rather uncomfortable smile. "Sorry, Claudia and I are flying back to…New York tomorrow."

"I had no idea you had such a busy schedule! I hope we didn't take you too far out of your way."

"Hey, it was nothing," Marty waved a hand dismissively. "I mean really we got the better end of the bargain, a free meal, this great cake."

George laughed and reached out to shake Marty's hand. "That's all thanks to Lorrie, she knows how to throw a great party."

Lorraine gave him a playful swat on the arm, before turning and giving Marty a hug and then Claudia. "We'll have to do it again! Do you have a proper address for us to write too?"

"Uh, sorry no, but Doc knows how to reach us," Marty took Claudia's hand.

"When will we see you again?" Lorraine asked eagerly.

"Lorrie," George laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder and squeezing her. "Not everyone can plan ahead as well as **you**."

"It'll probably be a while," Marty finally said. "Claudia's parents live over in Europe, so we're going to head over there for now. We might end up staying you know."

Lorraine made a disappointed sound, but then smiled. "Well, maybe one day Georgie and I will get to Europe and we can visit you."

"Well, who knows what'll happen in the future," Marty said with a shrug.

Something about the comment seemed to strike Claudia as funny, and she giggled.

George looked at Lorraine and gave a small shrug, then turned back to the couple.

"Well, take care of yourselves."

"And help yourself to another piece of cake," Lorraine added.

* * *

There were a few golfers out on the green at that time of day and Doc did his best to avoid them and if he was spotted, he acted casually, trying to seem if he was there to pick up stray balls. Luckily, seeing as it was a golf course there were always some about, although his pockets were getting rather full.

It was a good ten minutes though before he transversed the course. The Country Club was a wide sprawling building and Doc knew that he'd have his work cut it for him, locating exactly where Marty and Jennifer were while avoiding been seen by those inside lurking about at the same time.

Finally he got close enough to the building to be able to see through the windows and wide glass paned double doors that lined the ground floor.

The first room he saw was some sort of meeting room with couches covered by red velvet, Persian carpets and wide oak wood bookcases, filled with a number of gentlemen, most of whom we're smoking away like chimneys.

Doc ducked behind the hedge that separated the patio of the club from the golf green and moved further along. The next room was full of snooker tables and a group of men surrounded one, also smoking away.

The next set of windows proved to be the right ones, a large group of people were crowded inside, dressed in formal clothing and Doc spotted a flash of white, a wedding dress.

He peeked over the hedge trying to spot Marty and Jennifer, but there were too many people. Somehow he was going to have to draw their attention with out catching everyone else's.

"Damnit," he muttered to himself, he didn't have the faintest idea how to pull **that** off.

Doc noticed then that the guests were eating wedding cake, which probably meant the reception was close to ending, but he wasn't exactly knowledge of social etiquette and parties in particular, so he could hardly know for sure.

Briefly, he considered waiting until the party definitely ended, and then trying to catch Marty and Jennifer as they left, but he really didn't want to risk the space time continuum any further. _No, there's nothing for it…_he realised resolutely, he'd have to sneak closer to the building, maybe even get inside.

He pulled his hat down as far as it could go, took a quick look around and seeing that the coast was clear he hurried across the patio and pressed up against the wall next to one of the glass pane double doors. Slowly and cautiously he looked into the room.

He immediately spotted Marty and Jennifer, who were of all things eating cake!

_I'm glad __**some**__ of us can relax!_ He thought in annoyance, while he'd been running raggard, apparently those two had been living it up.

But as a photographer entered his field of view, Doc saw that the two were well aware of the trouble they were in, as Marty practically ducked behind a table and Jennifer turned away as the photographer's flashbulb went off.

For a moment Doc considered his options, but there weren't many, obviously anything he did that would draw Marty and Jennifer's attention would draw everyone else's in the room too.

But as he took another quick peek into the room, he notice Marty and Jennifer heading towards the door.

He wondered if it was too much to hope for…

As they passed close he took his chance, poking his head out and knocking on the door gently.

He was rewarded by the two turning and their eyes widening as they caught sight of him.

He mouthed. _Meet me at the gate._

Marty nodded and with that Doc turned and hurried back into the bushes, wanting to get out of there before his luck ran out, he was surprised it had lasted this long!

* * *

Once Doc was out of sight, Marty took Jennifer's arm and headed over towards the doors to the foyer.

But Marty's parents spotted them.

"Wait! You can't go yet," Mrs. McFly all but shouted making her husband, Marty and Jennifer jump in surprise.

"Ah, what?" Marty looked a little worried.

"The bouquet and garter, we haven't thrown them yet! We can't have you leave before then, that's the best part, well one of the best parts…"

"Oh, well, we kinda have to –"

"Oh, it'll take a few seconds," Mrs. McFly assured them, before turning and raising her voice. "Everyone! Everyone! Gather around! Marty and Claudia have to leave so George and I are going to throw the garter and bouquet now."

Those women who weren't married all hurried forward in great excitement.

"Come on Claudia," Mrs. McFly smiled, "get in there!"

Jennifer gave Marty a shrug and headed over to the crush immediately finding herself squeezed between Mya McFly and Sally Baines.

"Better watch out," Mya told her, good naturedly. "I'm a nut for this, I might get you in the face!"

Jennifer gave her a rather concerned look and then moved a little closer to Sally.

Marty's mother, tightly held Mr. McFly's hand and carefully climbed up on a chair in front of the crowd of women, holding half of her bouquet.

"Everyone ready?" She asked.

"YES!" The women surrounding Jennifer chorused.

"OK," Mrs. McFly turned her back on them. "One…two…three…"

The red rose bouquet flew into in a long wide arc, the women all around Jennifer waves their arms frantically in the air.

"Woah!" Jennifer cried out as beside her Mya McFly even jumped up almost knocking her off her feet.

She threw out a hand to steady herself and something landed right in her palm.

The bouquet! She'd caught the bouquet!

She couldn't catch the bouquet! She wasn't even supposed to be here!

Hoping nobody would notice, she let the bouquet fall from her hand without trying to hold it.

"I go it!" Someone behind her shrieked. "I got it!"

There was a sound between a groan and a cheer from the women.

Mr. McFly helped Mrs. McFly off the chair and she hurried over to hug Babs Shay. "Congratulations!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" Babs crowed waving the bouquet in the air and shooting a look at her boyfriend Stephen.

At that moment the photographer appeared to take a picture of the bride and the bouquet catcher, Jennifer deftly ducked behind someone else.

The crowd of women dispersed and Jennifer hurried over to Marty.

"Jeeze!" He whispered to her. "You almost caught that!"

"I know, I wasn't trying to, one of your cousins almost clocked me!"

Marty shook his head and looked as if he was about to say something, but suddenly his mother was there grabbing his arm.

"Come on, Calvin," she said excitedly, "you're not married yet, are you?" She gave Jennifer a wink.

"Uh, but-" Marty began, but was hauled pretty much off his feet.

Jennifer was torn between wanting to laugh at the look on Marty's face and hoping **he** wouldn't accidentally catch the garter! It would be just their luck if he did!

* * *

_Oh God, if you get me out of this, I'll…_ Marty hadn't prayed since he was about twelve years old and had no idea how to finish it as his mother led him into the centre of unmarried men, some of whom were excited to be there, but most embarrassed by the whole thing.

"Good luck," Mom told him, before returning to Dad's side.

Marty looked over at Jennifer, who looked like she was going to start chewing her nails.

When he turned back, there were hoots and hollers as Mom put her foot up on a chair and pulled her dress up to mid-thigh revealing her garter.

_Oh jeeze, _Marty turned away, wondering if God had a sick sense of humour.

When he turned back his father, who had the decency to blush, at least had the garter in hand.

"OK, I'm terrible at throwing, so you might want to move a bit closer," he called.

At this Marty planned to take a giant step back, but being in the middle of the crush he found himself being pulled along.

"And here's the pitch!" Called Cousin Mike as Dad turned and threw the garter over his head.

As warned it went way off to the left, the crowd around Marty lurching to get at it, but still it was nowhere near him.

"All right!" There was a whoop, and Marty looked over to see Dad's best man, Stephen Carl waving the garter in the air.

"Aww, we let you have it," Cousin Mike called. "After all your girl caught the bouquet and we don't want awkward questions."

"You're just a sore loser," Steve shot back, and as Babs came over to congratulate him, he gave her a kiss, put his arm around her shoulder and both posed for the photographer, before Mom dragged Dad over and he and Steve posed for one too.

Marty slipped back over to Jennifer and took her arm. "OK, let's get while the getting's good!"

* * *

Once again she and Marty were heading for the foyer, on the way though, they had to pass the cake table, where Mr. and Mrs. McFly were standing. Marty picked up a piece of cake wrapped it in a napkin and handed it to Jennifer.

"Well, see you later guys," He said rather awkwardly to his parents, knowing that the next time he **did** see them they'd look thirty years older.

Mrs. McFly gave him another hug. "Have a safe trip! And enjoy Europe." She turned to Jennifer and gave her a brief hug. "It was lovely meeting you, I'm sure you and Marty will be very happy." She gave a sly smile. "Maybe we'll be invited to **your** wedding one day."

Jennifer shot a look at Marty and he flushed a bright red. "Uh…well…"

Mr. McFly though came to his son's rescue by patting him in on the back and giving his hand a firm shake. "Good luck and yeah, keep in touch if you can."

"I'll do my best." Marty promised.

"Bye Claudia," Mr. McFly turned to her, "hey, maybe I'll see your name in print one day?"

Jennifer considered returning the comment, but decided not to, instead she just thanked him.

With the final goodbyes said continued for the foyer doors, various McFlys and Baines's and friends of the couple waving goodbye and wishing them well as they did.

"Thank **God**," Marty heaved a sigh of relief as he and Jennifer finally left the hall, she could tell he was trying not to break out into a run. "We're finally out of there!"

Jennifer holding the extra slice of cake in hand, looked over her shoulder. "Don't you think your parents will be disappointed when you never reply to their letters?"

Marty shrugged. "What else could I do about it? I could hardly tell 'em I was going back to the future. And hey, nice work giggling like that…"

"Oh come on, it was funny!"

Marty cracked a small grin. "Yeah, I guess it was..."

The two left the Club and headed down the driveway, Jennifer was tempted to take her heels off, but the path was gravelled and it would probably end up being a lot more painful then the heels.

Marty noticed she was having a bit of trouble and put an arm around her shoulders to help keep her steady.

"Come on, the whole thing wasn't **that** bad, admit it," she shot him a coy look. "If nothing else it brought out the gentleman in you."

"Hey, I'm **always** helpful to a lady in distress."

"Marty! Jennifer!"

It was Doc, waving at them from the gate. "Get a move on, we have to get out of here!"

"We're coming, Doc, Jen can hardly walk in those things," Marty gestured towards her feet.

"What in the name of Sir Isaac Newtown happened?" Doc demanded as soon as they caught up to him. "How could you have ended up at your own parents' wedding, Marty? You know the dangers!"

"Sorry, Doc, it was an accident," Marty began.

"It was my fault," Jennifer spoke up.

Doc turned to her.

"Don't blame, Jen, it was more Biff Tannen's fault."

Doc shook his head. "Him again?"

"Yeah, Jen had to walk out a leg cramp, next thing we know he's on our backs."

Doc sighed and pulled off his hat running his hands through his hair making it even more wild than usual.

"Come on, Doc, it's all right, Jennifer and I didn't say anything stupid, none of my relatives fell in love with me and we're not in any photos…at least, our faces aren't."

"Even so…having two extra people at that reception could have all sorts of unintended consequences. For example what if, for some reason your presence causes the reception to end late? As a result your parents are on the road and there's a drunk driver –"

"Doc!" Jennifer gasped shocked. "Don't say that!"

"I'm not trying to be morbid, I assure you, but it's a possibility."

Marty swallowed. "You don't really think…?"

"We'll find out when we get back to 1988, if something's happened…well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Jennifer thought he was being pretty casual about it, she was always thankful that she'd spent the entire time in Hell Valley passed out. Just hearing about it from Marty was enough to make her shudder. She certainly didn't want to go back to a Hill Valley like **that**.

Suddenly Doc stopped and stared. "What on Earth are you wearing Jennifer?"

Jennifer blinked confused.

"That hat," Doc elaborated.

"Oh, no!" Jennifer gasped, putting her hands to her head where the hat Marty's Grandmother lent her was still pinned up.

"Oh, shit," Marty swore.

Doc winced. "Don't tell me…"

"We borrowed the hat from my Grandma," Marty said, "or rather she **made** us borrow it. What do we, Doc? Take it back?"

"Certainly not…"

"But we can't just keep it, can we? I mean –"

"We'll drive by your grandparents' house before we go back to 1988 and leave it on the porch for them."

Trust Doc to come up with a quick solution.

As they passed by a Studebaker Doc came to a stop and to Jennifer's surprise, Doc went over to it, pulled on the door handle and suddenly gull wing door of the DeLorean appeared.

"So, er…Doc," Marty cleared his throat. "Are we still going to…I mean…"

"Marty," Jennifer whispered, suddenly realising what he was about to say. She admired Marty's tenacious streak, but this was pushing it.

Doc knew too. "Marty," he shook his head. "Do you have any idea how close we came to absolute disaster?"

Marty heaved a sigh. "I guess you're right…it's just…well, I really wanted to give my folks that photo frame."

"You **will** give it to them," Doc assured him, "you'll just need to let time take its' course."

Jennifer could tell Marty was disappointed and she couldn't blame him, it wasn't as if the two of them had planned the whole thing.

"But Doc," she found herself speaking up for her boyfriend. "Weren't you going to collect the frame anyway? We'll stay with the DeLorean, really, no matter **what!**"

Doc arched an eyebrow at her. "I would have thought you'd be more cautious, Jennifer."

"I **am** and so is Marty, that's why we wanted **you** to go."

Doc ran his hands through his hair again, which actually made it slightly neater. "I'm sorry, I'm not doing this to punish either of you, I know this was an accident, but I think it's just too risky."

Jennifer wanted to object, but Marty put his hands up. "No, no, Doc's right, Jen, plus…well, I'm kinda tired, I think I'd just rather go to my parents' party." He gave Doc a wry smile. "I think my circadian rhythm **has** been totally messed up."

That made Doc crack a smile. "All right let's return that hat and get back to the future."


	9. Chapter 9

FRIDAY AUGUST 12TH 1988

4:20PM

* * *

The three sonic booms echoed in their ears as the DeLorean reappeared.

Doc breathed a sigh of relief as he looked down, the barn was still there complete with the roof hatch, the farmhouse was in tact. All signs pointed to everything being all right, after all, if Marty **had** caused himself to be erased from existence, Clara and the boys wouldn't be here, which was a thought he immediately shoved aside.

"It's looking good, right, Doc?" Marty asked.

"Yep," he nodded and turned the DeLorean in a wide turn, noticing at the same time as Marty and Jennifer did, the black 4X4 where Marty had parked it.

If any further evidence was needed, he got it when he reached out to the remote for the hatch set into the dash of the DeLorean pressed the _open_ button and the hatch retracted.

He directed the DeLorean through the hatch and they came to a landing inside the barn, everything looking the same.

He opened the driver's side door and climbed out, Marty and Jennifer following suit. He could tell that his best friend was disappointed and he wondered if he was being rather unfair on the kid.

But before he had a chance to say anything on the subject there was a knock on the barn door.

"Daddy!" Verne shouted, "Daddy, come out!"

He grinned and headed over, releasing the locks and pulling open the door.

Verne and Jules were waiting expectantly outside.

"What are you two doing out there?" He asked them.

"Mother's asleep, so we wanted to warn you to be quiet," Jules spoke in a low voice.

"We were bored," Verne declared. "Mommy only lets us watch TV for an hour and she said we used up all our time."

"We might be able to negotiate that," Doc assured them.

"Hi, Marty! Hi, Jennifer!" Verne noticed them there and waved enthusiastically. He had definitely inherited his father's energy, he was all but bouncing on his toes.

"Hey, Verne."

"Where'd you go? Did you have fun? Did you see anything **crazy**, like a big lizard attacking the town?"

Marty and Jennifer looked at Doc somewhat confused.

"Verne's quite a fan of the _Godzilla_ movies," he informed them.

Jennifer nodded and Marty laughed. "Nothing as cool as that," he said.

"Is everything fixed, Dad?" Jules asked curiously, he wasn't allowed into the barn very often, he was after all not even ten yet, and while he was most certainly precocious, as much as Doc had been at his age. But most of the electronics in the barn were highly fragile and a few were even dangerous, not to mention the fact that if **he** did, Clara would probably have a few choice words for him.

"Indeed, Jules," he smiled at his son, "I'll explain how I calibrated everything later to-"

"When can we go time travelling again?" Verne demanded, electronics and inventing weren't things he found particularly interesting.

"Not for a while, boys, your mother's pregnant, remember?"

Jules and Verne both made sour faces at that, the boys admittedly weren't all that excited by the news of sibling, primarily because for some reason they both seemed certain the baby was going to be a girl and in both their opinions (and it was rare that they agreed on anything), girls were icky.

Doc, of course would rather like a daughter, but he didn't say so to his sons.

"Either way, we won't be time travelling too much for quite a while."

The boys looked disappointed, but then Verne brightened. "Are you two gonna stay for dinner?" He asked Marty and Jennifer. "We can play _Twister_ or _Monopoly_ or one of those cool new games I got for my birthday!"

"Or perhaps _Trivia Pursuit_," Jules suggested **his** favourite board game.

"Sorry," Marty shook his head. "Jen and I have a party to go to."

Verne if possible looked even more excited at this information. "Can we come? Can we come?!"

"Verne," Doc said, firmly, "you know we don't invite ourselves to other people's gatherings."

"But I thought you were **meant** to have as many people at a party as you can?" Verne pouted.

"Not always," Doc said, dryly, recalling a time long ago, when for some reason he had got it into his head to throw a party **himself**, the mansion had barely survived it.

Marty checked his watch. "Uh, what time is it?"

Doc checked the watch he had programmed to pick up the signal from the electronic clock in the barn, so it would read the present time. "It's four-thirty."

"Jen and I have got to go, we want to change, my Mom has a hell of a memory for clothes."

Doc nodded. "Have a good time, tell your parents congratulations from all of us."

"Sure thing, Doc, see you soon."

"How soon?" Verne wanted to know.

Marty patted Verne's hair as he and Jennifer headed for the door to the barn. "Really soon, Sunday."

"All right! I'm going to kick your butt in _Monopoly_, just you wait."

Marty laughed and he and Jennifer gave another wave before hurrying off to the 4x4.

Doc, Jules and Verne watched them leave and waved, then Doc put his arms around his sons' shoulders.

"All right, you two, let's clean up the mess I **know** you've made before Mom wakes up, hmmm?"

* * *

"Phew! What a **day**," Jennifer heaved a sigh leaning back against the head rest of the passenger seat. "I hope we can keep awake for your parents' party."

"Yeah," Marty agreed, stifling a yawn. "I still can't believe after all that we don't have the photo frame."

"Oh well, we tried our best," Jennifer told him consoling. "And hey, look at this way, your parents must have told us three or four times how happy they were that Marty Klein could come to the wedding. When you think about it, then, you've given them the best gift ever."

Marty smiled dryly. "Yeah, but it's not like we can ever tell 'em that."

"It's the thought that counts."

Marty pulled up in front of her house a few minutes later. "Seriously though you better change, Mom is sure to bring out the wedding album, and she has aneagle eye when it comes to clothes, if the back of you is any of those photos she's gonna spot the similarities right away."

"Hey, you don't need to convince me," Jennifer assured him, "I need to get out of these shoes anyway. Wanna come in and get some water or a _Pepsi_ or something?"

Marty ran his hand through his hair and then opened his door. "Yeah, thanks."

"Hey, Dad," Jennifer called out as they entered the house. "You here?"

"Jenny, how did the interview go?" Her father appeared from the kitchen, a look of expectation on his face, noticing Marty he gave him a quick smile.

"I'm not too sure, Dad, you know how lousy I am at that sort of thing," it took a moment for Jennifer to remember the events of earlier that day…to her father it would have only being a few hours ago, but to her.

Her father laughed and shook his head. "I'm sure you knocked 'em dead, are you and Marty here for dinner?"

"No, actually, Marty's forgot to tell me, but it's his parents 30th Wedding Anniversary Party tonight," she took a look at the clock on the wall of the living room. "We've only got twenty minutes before it starts."

"Typical," Dad laughed, but it was a good natured laugh. "Come along Mr. McFly, I'm sure you want a _Pepsi_."

Marty gave a smile of relief. "Sounds great, Mr. P."

Recalling the behaviour of Mr. Baines, Jennifer smiled to herself as she hurried up the stairs to her bedroom and quickly changed into a light floral print sundress, and light green jacket (it was a lot cooler in 1988 than it had been in 1958) along with some low heeled white sandals. She ran a brush through her hair and reapplied her makeup before heading back downstairs to the kitchen, where her father was asking Marty how his music presentation had gone.

"I'm actually feeling a lot more confident," Marty was saying, "I think I really nailed it."

"Good work," Dad congratulated him, then looked over at Jennifer. "Well, don't you look like you're heading to a wedding."

Jennifer almost laughed, if only her father knew!

Marty meanwhile swallowed the last of his _Pepsi_. "You look great, Jen," he came over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Thanks a lot for the _Pepsi_, Mr. P and don't worry I'll have her back at a decent hour."

Dad made a show of scowling. "You see that you do."

With that Jennifer came over and gave her father a kiss on the cheek and then she and Marty headed back to the 4x4 and Marty's apartment, or rather the apartment he shared with the _Pinheads_, Jed, Brad and Angus.

"I dunno if you want to come up," Marty commented as he pulled into the parking space. "It's a complete dump up there, you'll have trouble getting in the door…"

Jennifer held up her hands. "Say no more, but hurry up we've only got ten minutes."

"OK, OK," Marty promised as he climbed out of the 4x4 and hurried up the path and into the building.

Jennifer decided to lean back and rest her eyes just for a little while…

* * *

The apartment was as messy as Marty had warned Jennifer, in fact it was even more messier then when he had left that morning. Jed, Brad and Angus had obviously hung around in the living room although none of them were there right now.

Well practiced in navigating messy rooms though, Marty deftly jumped and weaved through the mess to his room and over to his wardrobe, looking for something he could wear to the party that would look different enough not to set off his mother's fashion memory.

He eventually settled on some black jeans, red shirt and a jacket, tossing his suit unceremoniously in the general direction of the laundry hamper before going to the bathroom to wash his face, slap on some deodorant and aftershave and comb his hair.

As he passed the clock in the living room on his way back out, he saw despite his best efforts it was now five pm.

Jennifer appeared to be asleep when he got back to the truck, he couldn't blame her, but though he tried to be quiet as he climbed into the driver's seat her eyes opened.

"Oh no, we're late!" She said noticing the clock.

Marty shrugged. "Hey, we're tryin' to act natural here, aren't we? If I arrived on time I think my folks would think something was really wrong."

"They probably would!" Jennifer agreed with a laugh.

He joined in, finally relaxing, as he started the engine of the 4x4 and drove off towards Lyon Estates.

* * *

"George! Are you ready?" Lorraine called from the bathroom as she put the finishing touches on her hair, which was clipped back with the very same clips she had worn to secure her veil on her Wedding Day.

There was no answer.

"George?" She called again, setting down the brush and heading out of the bathroom to the doorway of what had been Linda's room, where George had set up his study.

In the corner of the room, where the desk was, George was busy in front of the computer, his fingers flying over the keys.

"George," she put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing? Our guests are going to be here any minute!"

"Huh?" George turned his chair and Lorraine was relieved that at the very least he was wearing his suit, although his red bow tie was hanging untied around his neck. "Wow," he breathed, his face breaking into a wide smile as he took her in. "You're absolutely stunning!"

Lorraine blushed, but then wagged a finger at him. "Don't think that flattery will get you anywhere, get over here and let me do that tie."

George got up and headed on over. "Well, hey, I'll come on over, but are you sure you just want to fiddle around with my tie?" As he got in arms reach of her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, planting a long kiss on her lips.

Lorraine wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, feeling herself becoming swept up in the kiss…

At least until the doorbell rang.

"Oh no!" She tore her lips – regrettably – from George's and looked down the hallway. "They're here!"

George sighed. "No rest for the wicked…why are we celebrating our anniversary with a crowd anyway? Isn't this supposed to be personal time," he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. "**Romantic** time."

"Oh you," she gave him a swat on the arm, and gave him a quick peck before quickly tying his red bow tie, then taking his hand. "Come on, let's go."

Before they got there though, the door opened, it was Dave, with his girlfriend Vanessa in tow.

"Hey, come on you guys are only fifty," Dave declared as he spotted them. "You ain't old codgers yet are you?"

"Dave," Vanessa shook her head, but she was well used to her boyfriend's aplomb by now.

"I'm insulted by that," George folded his arms and gave his son a stern look, "we're just moving at our own rate here, and **we're** the guests of honour today," he put his arms around Lorraine and hugged her to him. "So give us the respect we've earned."

"Of course, sir," Dave gave them a grin and winked. "After all you always taught us to respect our elders."

Lorraine shook her head, but disengaged from George and hugged her eldest son. "It's good to see you," she said, "how's Sacramento?"

"Same ol', same ol'," Dave said with a shrug, hugging her back and then giving his father a quick one too.

"Happy Anniversary," Vanessa announced, giving Lorraine a kiss on the cheek. "I hope you have many more happy years."

"Oh, thank you," Lorraine smiled, "I'm sure we will," she gave George a loving look.

"So what have you kids got set up for food?" Dave asked as he looked around the main room, no doubt for the buffet table.

"Dave," Lorraine laughed and shook her head. "Haven't I always told you it's rude to ask for food the second you walk in the door?"

"Yeah, but come on, we all know that you make or get the best food there is. I even had a light lunch in anticipation of it all."

"He did," Vanessa announced, "he spent the whole drive down complaining about how his stomach was rumbling."

Lorraine laughed again and shook her head. "Well, I'm sorry to say the food won't be brought out until the caterer arrives at five-thirty, so you'll have to wait until then."

"Man, can I at least get something from the fridge?"

Lorraine rolled her eyes. "You're unbelievable."

"Oh come on, Mom, you can't be surprised, he's been like that for as long as **I've** know 'im."

"Linda!" Lorraine looked over Vanessa's shoulder to see her only daughter in the doorway. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

Vanessa gracefully stepped aside so that Lorraine could give Linda a huge hug. A few months ago she had moved to Los Angeles with a friend to set up a boutique specialising in custom made jewellery, vases, notebooks and cards. It was hard work, but the shop was going incredibly well, which sadly meant that her trip back to Hill Valley would be a quick one, she had on arrived a few hours ago and would leave on Sunday night.

"You look great, Mom," Linda announced, "I love those hair clips."

"Thank you…and look at you, dear, LA agrees with you."

"Don't sugar coat it, I know I've lost weight," Linda declared in her typical no-nonsense way.

"She has," Dave agreed, "I didn't even recognise her when we went to pick her up on the way here."

"Ha ha," Linda poked her tongue out at him.

"Hey, let me through, a father has to greet his little girl," George told him, going over to give his daughter a big hug.

"Dad," Linda told him, "you're such a softie."

"Hey, come on, you can't stand in the doorway like that, don't you know party etiquette?"

"Betty!" Lorraine looked past George and Linda to see her friend, along with her husband standing on the stoop. Lorraine quickly shooed George and Linda further into the house, so that her friend could come inside.

"Congratulations," Andrew greeted her with a hug and then greeted George.

Lorraine turned to Betty. "How are you? I love that dress."

"Well, I've always been the height of fashion," Betty grinned, smoothing down the skirt of her dark blue dress.

"I think Babs would disagree," Lorraine winked at her friend. "You guys didn't come together?"

"Nah, she and Steve had to stop somewhere first," Betty told her.

"A present?" Lorraine's eyes brightened.

Betty gave a laugh, taking her husband Andrew's arm. "Same old Lor," she shook her head. "I'm not sayin' one way or another. You'll have to wait and see."

Lorraine sighed. "The anticipation will kill me, you know."

She felt George slip an arm around her waist. "It better not," he told her nuzzling her cheek. "I couldn't live without you, you know."

"Ugh, you two, consider everyone's appetites, please."

George gave her an arch grin. "Lucky for you we're not eating for half an hour, then."

* * *

By the time she and Marty arrived in Roslyndale Avenue, they were almost ten minutes late – unusually, traffic on the main road had been quite heavy.

"Damn, that was nuts," Marty muttered as he looked about for a parking space, seeing as there was a lot more cars on the street than usual, obvious guests to the party. They had to be the last ones to arrive!

"It figures," Jennifer sighed, "things like that always happen when you're running late."

"And I can't even find a damn parking space! What the Hell is this?" Marty groaned, hitting the steering wheel with the heel of his hand.

"Come down, Marty," Jennifer put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, there's one," she pointed.

Marty pulled the 4x4 in with a jerk, Jennifer was glad she was wearing her seatbelt.

"Right, let's get going," Marty announced, climbing out of the truck and rushing around to open the passenger side door and help Jennifer out, or at least that's what he intended to do, but he almost pulled her arm out of its socket instead!

"Ow, Marty!"

"Sorry, sorry, come on, I don't have a gift for 'em, I don't want to be embarrassingly late as well."

The two hurried down the road to 9303, in the driveway sat three cars, in the garage sat his parents grey BMW and Dave's red Pontiac Fiero.

Marty and Jennifer weaved through the cars to the front door which was open, but the screen door was locked, so Marty had to knock on it, rather hard since inside the main room of the house the party was practically in full-swing.

Finally, though, they got some attention and the screen door opened.

"Hey, little bro, you're just in time for the clean up."

Marty rolled his eyes. "Give me a break, Dave, we're not **that** late."

"Nah, you're not," Dave admitted, throwing an arm around his brother's shoulders and all but hauling him inside, Jennifer in tow.

"But making Jennifer late," Dave clucked his tongue, "badly done, little bro."

"It wasn't entirely Marty's fault," Jennifer insisted, loyally. "I had to get changed first."

"Well, it's a nice outfit," Dave complimented her, before turning to look into the main room, which was full of people. "Mom and Dad are in there somewhere…"

"Marty!"

Mrs. McFly appeared in front of them, Jennifer instantly recognising the gold clips she wore in her hair as she enveloped Marty in a warm hug. Then she turned to Jennifer. "And don't you look just lovely," she exclaimed, hugging her as well. "How have you been?"

"Uh, good," it was really weird, less than an hour ago (for her at least) Mrs. McFly had been her age and though Marty's mother was undoubtedly young looking for her age, it still seemed as if she'd aged suddenly.

Mr. McFly came to his wife side, his change in appearance all the more apparent by the fact his hair was now grey. He put an arm around Marty's shoulders.

"You're only twenty minutes late, son, you're getting better."

Marty smiled wryly. "Thanks, Dad, Happy Anniversary, you two."

Mrs. McFly suddenly looked quite teary and went back to hug her son again. "Oh, thank you, sweetheart!"

"Hey, Jennifer," Mr. McFly turned to her, "how's the Journalism going?"

"Uh…really well, Mr. McFly, I…er…had an interview today."

"Really, I remember the first time I had an interview for a magazine, I'm sure you did much better than I did, I bombed it **completely**."

"I did manage to answer all the questions," she admitted with a smile.

"Then you're **way** ahead of me." Mr. McFly said with a laugh.

"Come on in from the doorway," Mrs. McFly suddenly said. "The caterers' are about to arrive and you want to be near the food table."

"Hell yeah," Dave announced, making a beeline for the table in question.

Jennifer and Marty followed at a more sedate pace and it was so bizarre, Jennifer instantly recognised people who had been at the Reception. It was like she was seeing _Before_ and _After_ shots on some television infomercial. Not that anyone looked particular bad from their 1958 selves, though a few looked **much** older, such as Marty's aunts and uncles and his grandparents of course.

Time travel was definitely confusing!

"Hey, it's our rock an' roll nephew! Got any new songs for us?" Uncle Milton called out to Marty as he and Jennifer headed towards the open patio doors, where outside even more people were milling about.

"Sorry, Uncle Mil, I've been busy with college work." Marty spoke apologetically, although his Uncle's question reminded him, it **had** been ages since the _Pinheads _had come up with something new…

Uncle Milton made a show of gasping in shock. "Who are you? And what have you done to Martin McFly?"

Marty laughed and shrugged. "Hey, I work hard, I play hard."

"And that's the way to do it," Aunt Susannah, Milton's wife remarked giving her husband a nudge. "You could learn a lot from him."

"Hey, who's older here," Uncle Milton objected.

"You'd never know it from the way you act," another voice chimed in, Uncle Toby, his arm around Aunt Marge. "Hi, Marty."

"Hey, Uncle Toby, hey Aunt Marge."

He took a quick look at Jennifer, who seemed a little overwhelmed. Marty had to admit that it was pretty weird, his relatives, his parents' friends, all of them looked different, but yet…

"Marty!" His Grandma Stella appeared and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm great, Grandma, how about you?"

"We've just come from seeing Joey," Grandma told him, frowning briefly, but then smiling again and tapping Grandpa Sam who was standing beside her but facing in the other direction. "He's well, isn't he, Sam?"

Grandpa Sam turned around, looking gruff as ever, but he gave Marty a welcoming pat on the back. "He is, God knows why he can't get out of that place, kid can't keep himself out of trouble for ten minutes."

"He made your mother a gift," Grandma Stella confided.

Marty suppressed a groan, even Uncle Joey, locked up at the County Jail could manage a gift!

Aunt Sally called out. "Hey, Mom, Dad, settle something for us, please!"

"We're comin'!" Grandpa returned, he gave Marty another pat on the back. "See you later."

Grandma Stella gave him another kiss on the cheek. "Oh, and hello to you, Jennifer."

"Hi, Mrs. Baines, Mr. Baines."

Grandpa Sam murmured something that sounded like 'hello' before he and Grandma moved off.

Marty and Jennifer continued on there way, but by then the caterers arrived there was a huge swirl of activity, they moved out of the way and bumped into someone.

"Typical little bro greeting!"

"Hey, Linda," Marty turned around to see his sister. "How was your flight?"

Linda rolled her eyes. "Typical stuff, the seat didn't go back and I couldn't find the movie audio on the headphones."

"Well, hey at least you didn't have to eat," Marty commiserated.

"Oh, believe me, I'd sneak my **own **food on board if there was a 'food' service." Linda shook her head, then turned to Jennifer. "How you goin'? Still putting up with this one? He must be on his best behaviour with you or something."

"Hey!" Marty objected, then gave a sly grin. "Where's **your** entourage?"

Linda laughed good naturedly. "For your information, I haven't gone out on a date since I got to LA, some of us have to work for a living, you know."

"Hey, I work hard, that rumour going around that I was at college today is no rumour."

"No way!" Linda gasped. "How much did they pay you?"

Before Marty had a chance to make a snappy comeback, one of the waiters came over with a silver platter, which held out to them. "Would you some hors d'oeuvres?"

"Sure, thanks," Linda picked up some sort of wrapped up thing that Marty couldn't identify. Jennifer took one too.

"Err, no thanks," he said when the waitress held the platter towards him.

"You're **so** sophisticated, aren't you?" Linda remarked, shaking her head as she popped whatever it was into her mouth. "Mmm, they're really good too."

Jennifer looked slightly less certain, but she ate hers and nodded in agreement. "You should try one."

"Well, there's some pigs in the blanket over there, I'll think I'll stick with what I know."

"Oh what a life of high society and excitement you'll lead," Linda remarked to Jennifer with an exaggerated sigh.

"Lay off, huh?"

Linda put an arm around his shoulders and made as if she was going to give him a noogie, but instead gave him a rather tight hug. "Hey, I'm just teasing, that's what big sister's do."

"Ugh, let go me, we're in public!"

Linda gave a laugh, but let go and headed off to talk with Aunt Alison.

Once he had his pig in a blanket in hand, Marty considered his options when it came to a gift for his parents. If even Uncle Joey had managed to get his act together…

Jennifer sensed what he was thinking. "Come on, Marty, it'll be OK, we'll get the photo frame on Monday and well, it'll be all right."

"I'd just like to have **something**, that's all."

But unless he made a quick trip back to Doc's and plead him to reconsider, there wasn't much hope of that.


	10. Chapter 10

FRIDAY AUGUST 12TH 1988

6:27PM

* * *

Clara shook her head as her husband wrapped up his story of the events of that day over dinner.

"Goodness, Emmett, talk about Murphy's Law!"

"Well, thankfully, there were no paradoxes," her husband replied with a sigh. "At least that's how it seems…although, thinking about it I do recall being suitably shocked to hear from George and Lorraine that 'Calvin' showed up at their wedding after all."

"It must have been very nice for them," Clara said with a smile. "Wouldn't **you** have liked it, if Marty could have been at our Wedding?"

Doc laughed. "Maybe…but this is a different scenario, it's more like Jules and Verne being there."

"Hey, you never know, Dad," Verne pipped up.

Emmett shook his head. "Don't even joke about it, Verne, the consequences could be beyond your worst nightmare."

Verne held up his hands. "Hey, just kidding."

"A fine attempt, Verne," Jules said, drolly with a roll of his eyes. "You realise though, that a by its definition a joke is funny?"

Verne poked his tongue out at his brother.

"Boys," Clara cautioned, then turned to her husband and asked. "Do you think Marty and Jennifer got to the party on time?"

"I probably should have come back five minutes after we left," Emmett admitted, "knowing Marty, but then his parents know him well enough not to take it personally."

"What did he get them?"

"I'm afraid in typical style, Marty neglected to remember the party was on until today." Emmett shook his head and Clara laughed.

"Oh dear, poor boy, he didn't ask you to do him a favour and buy something while you were on your travels through time?"

To her surprise, Emmett flushed. "Well…he did…"

Clara raised her eyebrows. "And you said no? I'm surprised, Emmett…"

"I know, I know, it was just that it was the last thing we were going to do and well…after what happened back in 1958."

"I suppose that's fair," Clara replied, "but he must have been very disappointed."

Emmett sighed. "He was."

"What's the big deal about a Wedding Anniversary, anyway?" Verne spoke up again. "I mean, you guys don't make a big deal out of it."

Clara smiled and patted her husband's hand. "Well, we could hardly throw a big party when we were in the past, dear, we weren't supposed to be there after all. But perhaps we'll have one this year, after all it will be our tenth." She leaned over and bestowed a kiss on her husband's cheek, much to Verne's disgust.

"And we'll have to get you a present, too?" He asked, pouting.

She and Emmett laughed. "We won't be expecting you to put yourself out **too** much, Verne," Emmett assured his son, reaching across the table to rub his son's head.

"Don't worry, Verne," Jules turned to his brother. "We can come up with a present together."

Verne gave him a look of surprise. "Really?"

"Sure, what are brothers for?"

"Well, since you've been such good brothers, you can have chocolate topping on your desert tonight."

Jules and Verne cheered loudly.

"All right, boys, you know the rules, no dessert until the tables cleared," Emmett reminded us he picked up his plate and Clara's. "Come on, now."

The two groaned, but picked up their plates and followed their father into the kitchen.

Jules and Verne returned a moment later with bowls and spoons.

"Dad **still** won't show us where he keeps the chocolate topping," Verne complained.

"Because he knows **you'll** eat it all if he does," Jules teased.

"And you wouldn't?"

Clara held up her hands. "Now, boys, we all know that Dad has hidden the chocolate sauce from **me.**"

They all laughed as Emmett reappeared with the ice cream scoop, a tub of vanilla ice cream and the topping.

"I hide it from all of you," he told them, setting the tub, scoop and topping on the table. "And it's for your benefit, after all, if you ate it all your tastebuds would become accustom to it and you'd end up absolutely sick of it."

"Did you research that, Dad?"

Emmet gave a wry grin. "Yes…personally…which is why **I** don't eat it."

They all laughed.

* * *

Clara and the boys had headed into the living room to decide on which game to play, while Doc finished cleaning the table.

His thoughts though were on Marty, he wondered how he was going at the Anniversary party and just how bothered he was that he couldn't give his parents their present.

Unconsciously, he put his hand in his pocket and realised there was a receipt in there, figuring it was from _Western Auto_ he pulled it out, to discover it was for _Frame It!_ And it wasn't a receipt it was a pick up slip for the photo frame, he'd forgotten that Marty given it to him.

_I'll have to give it back on Sunday,_ he reminded himself, turning to put it on the fridge with a magnet so he wouldn't forget, but then he paused.

He understood why Marty wanted to be able to give his parents the present today. He remembered how much he'd wanted to thank his own parents back when he was the same age, not to mention how often he and Marty had spoken about events in this reality. Having heard about how Marty's parents used to be, before he'd travelled back in time and changed it all, Doc could certainly understand why Marty felt so much closer to this version of his family than the original one.

He heaved a sigh, and shook his head. _Call me a push-over_, he thought to himself and turning he headed to the living room doorway.

"I'm heading out for a few minutes," he told them.

They looked at him curiously, but he decided not to elaborate, instead he noted that they'd taken out of all things _Clue._

"Save Professor Plum for me," he told them, before turning and heading for the back door.

* * *

"Hey, Lor, great party!"

Lorraine turned and ginned at Babs and Betty, who were raising their glasses towards her.

"Is there any surprise in that?" She raised an eyebrow. "You know I **always** throw the best parties."

"You're so modest too," Betty drawled and she and Babs laughed.

"If you've got it, flaunt it." Lorraine tossed back her hair.

"You've never had any trouble doing **that**, have you?" Babs drawled, and she and Betty broke into laughter.

"OK, what's the joke?" The three looked up to see Andrew, Stephen and George.

George put his arm through Lorraine's and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Let me guess you've said something stunningly brilliant."

"Actually, we were just remembering how you threw the garter," Babs teased.

"I cannot tell a lie, it was terrible! But after twenty years of Lorrie showing me the ropes with tennis, if we staged a renactment…well, Steve would be going **down**."

"Oh please," he scoffed, "I played Varsity basketball, that garter was always going to be mine."

"Jeeze, you boys are competitive," Babs laughed shaking her head.

"Like you're one to talk!" George laughed. "We all saw you body check Lorraine's poor cousin Anne."

"That was not a body check!' Babs protested. "It was a nudge, besides if I hadn't caught it it would have fallen on the ground. That girl Calvin came with was a klutz!"

"Babs!" Lorraine objected. "How could you say that?!"

"It's true! She had the bouquet in her hand and she just dropped it!"

"Well I'm sure she and Calvin didn't break up over it," Lorraine shot back annoyed.

"What **did** happen to them anyway? You ever hear from them again?"

Lorraine frowned. "No…I can't believe it! Calvin promised to try, but we never heard another word."

"That's not **entirely** true," George remarked, giving her shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "He and Claudia did leave us that note, remember? With Mom's hat."

Lorraine **did** remember, she had in fact kept the note, it was in the Wedding Album along with other mementos of the day, red roses from her bouquet, an invitation, a booklet of the ceremony…

She gave George a kiss on the cheek. "Wait here," she told them before hurrying off into the house.

Before she got out of earshot she head Babs ask. "Where's she going?"

"You know, Lorrie," George replied, "she likes to surprise."

* * *

Marty wasn't particularly hungry having had a three course meal, plus cake, less than two hours before, but he made a polite showing, since the food really **was** good.

Briefly, he wondered about the original version of his parents and siblings, what would **they** have been doing today? His parents, by some quirk of fate had got married on the same day originally, not that Marty knew very much about it, Mom had of course talked about it, but he'd tuned her out, not really caring. He vaguely recalled it being a very small service and an even smaller reception…

Not to mention that as far as he could tell in the 1980s his mother didn't have many friends left (she was a mean drunk) and Dad didn't have any friends at all.

_The whole thing would have been depressing as all shit,_ Marty decided.

At that moment he heard his mother calling for everyone's attention.

"It's time for a trip down memory lane!" She said once everyone had turned to her.

Dave and Linda had come up on either side of Marty and Dave gave a dramatic groan. "When **doesn't** she go down that lane?"

"Shut up, Dave," Linda laughed, "that's how Mom is."

"Now, I'm sure a lot of you saw this almost thirty years ago…but well, I'd like to refresh your memory."

"Hey, don't worry Lorraine," Cousin Mike, who was balding now, but as loud as ever. "You've jogged our memories enough!"

There was laughter all around.

Dad came up beside her. "Hey, if you want to make fun of my Lorrie, you'll have to deal with me." He announced.

"Yipes!" Mike made a show of ducking behind his wife.

"Always my knight in shining armour," Mom cooed, giving Dad a kiss, there was a chorus of 'awwws' from those assembled.

Mom pulled a photo album from behind her back and held it up, which was bound in cream coloured leather and on the front cover in gold was the word _Wedding_.

Marty sneaked a look at Jennifer and gulped.

"This is Georgie and Is _Wedding _album, I thought I'd bring it out for you all to look at and remember how young you looked." She grinned. "I, of course, look the same," she struck a pose.

"Modest as ever!" Someone called.

"It's not conceited if it's the truth," Dad replied, giving Mom a tight squeeze.

"Man, those two are such cornballs," Linda shook her head.

"I'm sure Vanessa wants me to act like that in thirty years," Dave sighed. "I don't know if I can keep up the sap that long."

At that moment Vanessa appeared and looped her arm through Dave's. "Sure you can, all it takes is a bit of practice."

"So feel free to take a look," Mom told the guests, "and don't worry I won't be giving you a test on it later."

There was a laugh and it wasn't too long before Babs and Betty had pulled their husbands over to be the first to look.

What surprised Marty though, was when Linda, after her comment, decided that they should all go over and take a look.

"I can't remember the last time I looked at Mom and Dad's wedding album," she commented as she hustled them over.

"Is that a problem?" Dave rolled his eyes at Marty.

Marty meanwhile could very well have said **his** memories were crystal clear, but he was smart enough not to go there.

There was all ready a line formed to the table, so they had to wait, surrounded mostly by his cousins on the McFly side, only one of whom had actually been born at the time of the wedding and seeing as he was barely one at the time, Adam couldn't remember anything about it.

"How's your band going, Marty?" John, one of his second cousins who he hadn't seen for years, asked.

"Still going strong," Marty told him, surprised at the question, last time the two met, John hadn't shown the slightest bit of interest in Marty's band. "We're playing at a club in Sacramento at the end of the month, actually."

John actually looked rather **impressed** by this! "Damn, you must have got all the musical talent this generation, I can't even play the **xylophone** decently."

"Hey," Miranda, another second cousin, objected, folding her arms. "For you information, John, I play a mighty mean recorder solo."

"And I was in the school band," Linda pointed out.

John put up his hands. "OK, calm down…although I don't see you two playing seriously."

Eventually, Marty, Jennifer, Linda, Dave and Vanessa reached the table and Marty was sweating bullets. Part of him was telling him to relax, his parents would have spoken to him long before if he **had** ended up in any pictures, but another part of him reminded him that even Doc hadn't figured out everything about time travel and memory and perhaps somehow his parents wouldn't realise the resemblance until this very moment…

"Dave!" Linda's voice brought him out of his worries. "Start from the beginning! Jeeze…"

The first page of the album was completely innocuous, it was a copy of the Wedding Invitation, it was a covered by a thin almost transparent piece of paper, that Linda lifted up.

"Wow, get a load of this parchment, must of cost Mom and Dad a **mint!**"

Dave rolled his eyes. "Come on, Linda, no-one cares what kind of paper their invitation was on." He reached out and turned the page.

On one page there was a photo of Mom and her parents in the back garden of their home, beneath that was a picture of Mom with her siblings.

"Oh wow!" Vanessa breathed, "that the most gorgeous Wedding Dress I've ever seen!"

"Yeah it's great isn't it?" Linda asked, grinning. "With any luck maybe **I'll** be able to fit into it for my wedding."

Dave smirked and gave Marty a wink. "Which one?"

Linda narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't say anything.

On the other page was a photo of Dad with his parents in the living room of their home and beneath a photo of Dad with Alison.

The next page showed Mom with Babs and Betty, Dad with Stephen and the outside of the church.

There were, thank God, no photos **inside** the chapel, Marty thanked God that things were so strict back then, you could certainly bring a camera into the church now a days.

"Wow, don't they look happy," Linda commented on the photo of Mom and Dad and the bridal party outside the Church. "I mean considering they had to go through the entire service Latin." She said this to Vanessa and Jennifer. Vanessa was, of course, intrigued by the whole thing, while Jennifer just had to act as if this was news to her.

Marty's palms were sweaty, though, as Linda turned to the next page, which just turned out to have a copy of the Wedding Service booklet.

But the reception photos began on the very next page and Marty stared closely at each of them.

But each picture brought him relief as he saw neither himself, nor Jennifer in any of them.

"Look at all those dresses," Vanessa remarked, "vintage stuff really is the best."

Dave heaved an annoyed sigh, and under normal circumstances Marty probably would have joined in with his big brother's irritation, but at that moment who was just too damn relieved.

As Linda turned to the last page of the album, though he had to suppress a nervous gulp.

It was a smaller version of the panoramic reception picture that Marty had wanted to get the frame for. Every guest of the reception was in it, crowded around his mother and father, who were the focus of the photo, dancing their Bridal Waltz.

He instantly recognised Jennifer, or at least the back of her, he thankfully had managed to obscure himself behind Aunt Alison – thank God he was so short!

"Man, who are those clowns?" Dave suddenly remarked, pointing at Jennifer. "Way to ruin a photograph."

"Oh come on," Linda laughed, "they were just caught at a bad time, look at Uncle Milton and Grandpa!"

Marty looked at Jennifer quickly and they both cracked a smile, Grandpa Sam had to be pulling the worst face for a Father of the Bride and Uncle Milton was poking out his tongue and it was pretty much a given that Grandma Stella who was holding a handkerchief to the corner of one eye wasn't crying with happiness.

"Hey come on you guys! You can look at that any time you like! The rest of us aren't so lucky," John called.

"Hey, none of us live at home anymore either…we've only got a few pages to go anyway." Linda told him.

The last two pages of the album were letters each framed by a dried pressed rose from Mom's bouquet – one from Great Uncle Bradley and his children apologising for not being able to come, but wishing the new Mr. and Mrs. McFly great happiness. One each from Clarissa, Sean and Melanie – Marty's cousins twice removed and…

Marty's eyes widened. _Oh no…_

Doc hadn't considered **that**.

Mom was, of course, sentimental enough to keep the quickly written note Marty had written and left with the hat.

"Oh my God, it's that Calvin-Marty whathisname," Linda pointed.

"He's the guy who got my parents together," Dave said Vanessa, "but he has this nasty habit of disappearing into thin air."

"'_Dear George and Lorraine',_" Linda read, "_'Sorry, Claudia took George's stepmother's hat by mistake, please thank her for lending it. We were both honoured to be guests at your Wedding. Have a happy Honeymoon and a great life. See you, Marty and Claudia.'_ Man, why keep that?" She shook her head.

"I think it's sweet," Vanessa declared, "they must have fond memories of him, since he got them together and all."

Linda turned the album back to the first page and they moved off and spilt up, Linda excusing herself to go inside and Dave and Vanessa to get the last of the hors d'oeuvres.

"Man, are we lucky?" he whispered to Jennifer.

"We are, although I'm probably never going to be able to wear that outfit again am I?"

"Oh, I dunno…" Marty smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders. "After all, doesn't look like they ever noticed how similar 'Marty Klein's' handwriting is to mine, so maybe they didn't pay that much attention after all."

Jennifer laughed and kissed his cheek. "Great! Because that's my favourite skirt."


	11. Chapter 11

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12TH 1988

7:47PM

* * *

"Attention, attention everybody!" Dave called as he tapped his champagne glass with a fork.

The sun was beginning to set and Jennifer thought the backyard looked lovely in the twilight.

"Hey!" Dave put his fingers in his mouth and gave an ear splitting whistle.

The crowd turned, and there were a few catcalls.

"Sorry, I didn't want to bring that out," Dave grinned," but well, we're at the exciting end of the evening. The speeches-"

There was a groan from various McFly and Baines relatives, not to mention friends.

"And gift giving," Dave added, to which there were cheers.

Marty gave groan. "Oh, great, now I get to look like a complete jerk in front of **everyone**."

Jennifer took his arm and gave it a consoling pat as they and Linda moved over to stand next to Dave. "It'll be OK, Marty."

"Mom, Dad, get up here, please," Dave called to his parents. "Come on, now, don't be shy."

"When have you ever known Mom to be shy?" Linda asked with a laugh.

"You can bet its George digging his heels in," Mike called.

"Hey, I resent that," Mr. McFly objected as he and Mrs. McFly came through the crowd. Jennifer noted though, that Mrs. McFly was holding his arm in a very comforting way.

"OK, Mom, Dad," Dave said as they came to stand up beside him, putting his arm around his mother's shoulders. "It's been thirty long years of marriage, how do you feel?"

"I feel wonderful!" Mrs. McFly announced, wrapping her arms around Mr. McFly and giving him a tight hug to 'awwws' from the crowd.

"And you, Dad?"

"I've learnt to always agree with my wife," Mr. McFly said with a grin, planting a kiss on his wife's cheek.

Dave groaned. "You making us all look bad, Dad," he complained.

"Sorry, Dave," Mr. McFly told his eldest with a sly grin. "But in all seriousness I feel as wonderful as your mother does."

"Anyway," Dave rolled his eyes. "Mom and Dad we can safely say it's been a good thirty years and just to prove it there's more people here today than were at your wedding. Which means you haven't alienated anybody."

"Or if you have, you've replaced them with better models," Linda called out.

"**Ahem**," Dave poked his sister in the arm. "So in thirty years you've both done a lot. Dad you've managed to realise your dream of being a writer, finally publishing your first novel."

"I've been told it's actually good too," Mr, McFly said with a laugh and the crowd joined in.

"As for Mom, she's still working hard on the County Council and using her powers of planning and persuasion for good instead of ill."

Mrs. McFly made a show of looking offended, giving Dave a playful swat on the arm. "When have I **ever** used them for ill?"

"I can think of a couple of times!" Betty called out and laughter echoed all around.

"Not to mention of course, Mom gave birth to me, Linda and Marty."

"And **some** have proven harder to live with than others," Linda teased, nudging Marty.

"Hey, don't blame us because **you're** the spoiled one," Marty shot back with a grin.

"Now, now," Mr. McFly held his hands up, "you all gave Lorrie and me just as many headaches." There was more laughter, but he added. "But we love you all the same."

"Thanks," Dave, Linda and Marty managed to say in unison. Then Dave continued.

"Since you've been such great parents…**most** of the time, well I'd like to be the first to give you a little gift for all you've done for me."

There was another chorus of 'awwws' from those assembled as Dave's girlfriend came over and handed him two gift boxes, both very cleanly wrapped.

"Let me guess," Mrs. McFly began, "Vanessa wrapped those."

Dave laughed and shrugged. "Mea culpa, never be afraid to ask for help when you need it, right, Mom?"

"Of course, dear," she smiled as Dave handed the purple wrapped gift box and then passed the green one to Mr. McFly.

"Our favourite colours too, good to know you've been paying attention." Mr. McFly said with a laugh.

Together Marty's parents opened their gifts, Mrs. McFly carefully undoing the bow and sliding the paper off, while Mr. McFly all but tore into his.

"Wow, how did you guys stay together?" Cousin Mike called out with a laugh.

"Oh, David! It's **beautiful!**" Mrs. McFly gasped as she opened the lid of the jewellery box and took out a delicate silver watch.

"Swiss precision," Dave told them proudly as Mr. McFly took out his watch and looked it over. "Guaranteed to stay on time no matter what."

"We'll have to see about that," Mr. McFly grinned. "I've never had a watch not go slow on me yet!"

"Like father, like son," Jennifer whispered in Marty's ear, he gave her a look, but then grinned.

"Thank you so much, Davey!" Mrs. McFly, having put on her new watch, gave her eldest a warm hug.

Mr. McFly had a bit of trouble getting his watch on, but finally managed it, going over and hugging his son as well. "They're engraved," he told the guests. "With the date, so I'll never have to worry about forgetting it."

"He's never forgotten it," Mrs. McFly turned and hugged him again.

"See, ruining it for all of us," Dave sighed, shaking his head as those assembled laughed again.

* * *

Marty shifted his weight from foot to food as the laughter died down and Linda stepped forward.

"I'm sure after Dave's speech, you're all looking forward to hearing something coherent."

Dave poked her in the arm.

"Mom and Dad have always been my biggest supporters, even when some of my ideas have been crazy."

"**Some?**" Marty couldn't help but splutter, recalling some of his sister's wackier ideas in this reality (which were admittedly not quite as wacky as the ones she'd had in the original reality).

Linda poked her tongue out at him, then continued. "I've always dreamed of being able to do something creative with my life, since this is a talent Mom and Dad have in spades. Luckily for me, the genes turned out to be there, but with out Mom and Dad's support I could never have got this far."

Mom, sentimental as ever looked like she was going to cry.

"So, to thank them for always being there for me, I present them this –" she held her hand out towards the sliding glass door where two of the McFly cousins carried out what looked to be a box covered with a cloth, but Marty was sure there was more to it than that.

"I hope you like it," Linda looked a little nervous as cousins Peter and Jeffery set the covered whatever it was on the picnic table.

"Wow, what do you think it is?" Jennifer whispered in Marty's ear.

"No idea," he shook his head, but he had a feeling it was going to be something **good.**

Mom and Dad looked at it curiously, and Linda stepped back and gestured towards it nervously. "You guys open it."

Mom and Dad each took an edge of the cloth and when Mom nodded they whipped it off.

"Oh, Linda!" Mom gasped. "It's **wonderful!**" She stepped to the side so the rest of the crowd could see it and when they did they all gasped in appreciation as well,

"Damn," Marty's eyes widened. He couldn't begrudge Linda her talent for dioramas, but this one was almost too much!

It was a retelling of his parents' entire romantic relationship! Inside the plastic box, little paper cut outs of them at the _Enchantment Under the Sea Dance_, then at their Wedding, with Dave, then Linda joined them, and then Marty. A paper cut out of Mom at a podium no doubt making a speech to do with her job, Dad cheering her on, Dad with his book and Mom next to him and finally the two of them in front of a 30 inlaid with pearl.

Dad who had been at a loss for words, finally found his voice. "Wow…"

Mom was hugging Linda and crying with happiness, once she finally let her go, Dad gave her a big hug as well.

"Oh man, I'm **screwed**," Marty hissed in Jennifer's ear.

"It'll be OK, Marty," Jennifer said again, but he didn't think she sounded as certain as she had before.

The guests had surged forward a little, all of them wanting a closer look at the diorama and Marty hoped the distraction would last for the rest of the party…it was one thing to tell his parents privately that he didn't have a gift for them yet, but telling a group of nearly eighty people about it?

"Thanks, thanks everyone!" Linda spoke up, a blush on her face. "I'm glad you all like it, and I'm ecstatic that Mom and Dad **love** it."

"You can say that again!" Dad put his arm around her shoulders.

"But don't forget, Marty!" Linda smiled at him, and it took everything he had not to grimace.

"Oh shit, why…?" he muttered under his breath. "Well, uh…" he raised his voice to be heard by those in the crowd, all of whom were looking at him now. "Mom and Dad…you've always been great to me…I mean, there's not many seventeen year olds who get their own Toyota four by four's."

A few of his cousins shouted out some good natured complaints to that.

"Or being as understanding about their son playing in a rock band, especially one that sometimes kept him out until four am."

"Hey, it was better than having you in the house!" Dave called.

"You'd know about that, they had you working at _Burger King_the second you turned fourteen," he shot back with grin.

"Even more than that, Mom has always tried to be understanding when I've turned up late to…well…everything…even though she all ready has to put up with that from Dad."

Most of the older McFly relatives laughed at this. "We've got bets going that George is going to be late to his own funeral." Cousin Mike announced.

"And Dad of course, has always been willing to drive me to all sorts of places the _Pinheads_ have had gigs."

"There's nothing quite like driving up to a motorcycle bar," Dad remarked, wryly to loud laughter.

Marty took a deep breath, the next thing he had to say was going to suck. "Which is why –"

"Excuse me, excuse me!" There was the sound of someone shouting from the side of the house, where the gate to the backyard was. "Special Delivery for Mr and Mrs McFly from a Marty McFly and Jennifer Parker."

Mom and Dad turned to him and it took all his acting skills (such as they were) to not look as shocked as they were.

Someone who was closer to the gate than they were had opened it and a man in a blue uniform came into view, holding a large package wrapped in brown paper under his arm and a clipboard in the other.

"Sorry for interrupting your party," he remarked taking in the scene. "But well, _Fed Ex_ always delivers."

He came up to the table and set the package down on it, next to Linda's diorama. He looked about. "Which of you are Marty and Jennifer?"

Marty and Jennifer gave each other a look then stepped forward and the man held out a clipboard to them in one hand and a pen in the other. "If you could both sign here, please?"

Marty looked at Jennifer again…had she planned something? Somehow? But she looked as confused as he.

Taking the pen he signed on the line the man pointed at then passed the pen onto Jennifer.

"Thanks very much," the man gave them a smile then looked around at everyone gathered. "Have a great party folks, good night for it!" With that he disappeared back around the side of the house.

Marty turned to the package and immediately recognised the handwriting on it.

_Doc…_

But Doc wouldn't have changed his mind, would he…?

"Well, this is a surprise!" Mom said with a smile coming up to them.

"And just in the nick of time," Dad added giving them a wink.

"Uh…yeah! I didn't think they'd manage it," Marty improvised. "But Doc assured me you can rely on _FedEx_." He figured he better thank his friend. "And of course Jennifer helped me pick it out," he put his arm around her and drew her close. "So yeah, that's why it's from both of us."

"Well, come on!" Uncle Milton called. "Open it! We're all dying of curiosity here!"

Dad picked up the package so Mom could untie the string and pull the paper off.

"Oh my goodness! Marty, it's beautiful!" Mom cried turning to give him a huge hug. "I've been wanting this **forever!**" She turned back to her husband and wagged a finger at him. "Someone **finally** got the hint!"

There was a clamour from the crowd wanting to know exactly what it was since they couldn't see it.

Dad held up the photo frame that Marty and Jennifer had picked out (only a few hours ago!), silver with the pearl inlay and the engraving.

"What's it say?" Grandpa Max asked, adjusting his glasses on his nose and squinting in a vain attempt to read it.

Mom, who was crying again, read it out. "_To Mom and Dad, Here's to another 30 years of happiness. Love Marty and Jennifer_"

There was the general sound of 'awwws' from the guests, which was a relief to Marty since he'd wondered at the time if the engraving was just too sappy. Not that it really matter if it was, Mom loved that sort of stuff.

"That's a Hell of a photo frame," Stephen cocked an eyebrow. "What could you possibly have to put it that thing?"

"All your questions will be answered in a second, Steve," Dad reassured his friend as Mom headed inside.

Jennifer pulled Marty aside. "Marty! Did Doc…?"

Marty grinned. "Best friend in the world, Jen," he told her, shaking his head.

Mom reappeared. "The frame is perfect for this!" She announced to the guests showing them the nineteen by thirteen photo of the reception.

"Holy crap, I still had hair!" Cousin Mike shouted.

"Milton what the Hell are **you** doing?!" Aunt Susannah gave her husband a poke in the arm.

"I've been wanting a frame for this photo for thirty years," Mom told everyone. "But as usual, my dear husband can be **so** oblivious," she leaned forward and gave Dad a kiss on the lips so everyone knew there was no hard feelings. Then she turned to Dave, Linda and Marty. "Kids, can you help me with this?"

Marty and Dave held either end of the frame, while Linda slid the back off so Mom could put the huge photo in the frame. Once everything was secure Mom asked him and Dave to hold the frame up so everyone could get a good look.

"So, how long you want us to hold this thing up, Mom?" Dave asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah, I kind of need these arms…" Marty added.

Mom looked slightly disappointed, since only ten people had a chance to get a good look at the photo.

"Never fear," Dad declared. "I may not have remembered to ever get that frame, but I **do** know how to put a picture on the wall."

With no small amount of relief Marty and Dave followed their father inside, to the far wall of the living area of the main room, where a modern art piece had hung for as long as Marty could remember.

Dad took it down, much to the amusement of the crowd of guests who had followed them inside.

"You're a real handyman, McFly," Stephen said with a loud laugh.

"I prefer to call it time-saving," Dad replied, taking the frame from Marty and Dave and hanging it on the wall.

Then the three of them stepped back.

* * *

The picture looked just wonderful! She'd always known it would too.

Turning to Jennifer, Lorraine gave her youngest son's girlfriend a warm hug. "Oh, you're such a sweet girl," she smiled, "let me guess, **you're **the one who knew pearl is a traditional thirtieth wedding anniversary gift."

Jennifer grinned. "I did, but the photo frame and engraving was all Marty."

Lorraine turned to her son and gave him another huge hug. "Oh, my little boy."

There was the sound of snickering from David.

"Ma," Marty groaned in embarrassment.

Lorraine let him go and then turned to her eldest son giving him a hug. "My first baby!" She cried, which had Marty laughing his head off.

"Mom, did you **have** to?" Dave asked, when she let him go.

"What else are mother's for?" She asked with a wink.

Having embarrassed her sons, she went over to George taking his arm and looking up at the photo again and herself thirty years younger dancing with her husband. She remembered thinking on the day that she could never be happier, but of course, that was before Dave, Linda and Marty came along, before there had been thirty years of marriage to the man who had once been the school nerd, a complete wallflower, a no-hoper even.

"We've come a long way, baby," she said looking up at him with a grin.

George dropped a warm kiss on her lips. "Time flies when you're having fun," he told her.

"Hmmm…well no wonder it's felt like eternity to me," she teased, then gave him a passionate kiss before he could respond.

The world seemed to disappear as they kissed at least until someone called out. "Hey, get a room you two!"

"Do you people have a romantic bone in your bodies?" Lorraine told everyone off, hands on hips.

"Sure, we do," Babs and Betty piped up, both of them taking hold of their husbands and kissing them.

There were groans of disgust from the younger guests at these displays of affection.

The party got underway again as everyone went back to catching up with each other.

Linda came over and took Lorraine by the arm. "Having a great time, huh?"

"Of course, and your present was so amazing, how long did it take you to make it," Lorraine still couldn't get over the intricacy of her daughter's gift.

Linda gave a mysterious grin. "You can't know that! You're not supposed to know how much time went into the gift."

George looked at his daughter. "I thought you weren't supposed to know how much it cost?"

"Either one I'm not telling you!" Linda said.

Dave, Vanessa, Marty and Jennifer joined them too.

"Hey, don't fall over yourselves going on about **my** gift," Dave joked with a grin.

"They're lovely," Lorraine told him, patting his cheek, taking another look at the watch on her wrist. "We love matching things, don't we, dear," she looked up at George.

"Definitely, just look at my tie," George laughed, indicating it.

"So a perfect day," Linda spoke up, "just like your wedding," she indicated the photo.

Lorraine smiled, but she looked up at the picture she noticed Calvin and his girlfriend Claudia, what she could see of them, that is. It was such a shame that the couple wasn't in **any** of the photos except for their backs, or their arms…

But even more disappointing was that she and George never heard from Calvin and Claudia again.

_What could have possibly happened to him?_ She wondered, frowning a little. Throughout the years she'd worried that perhaps something had happened to Calvin…had he gone to Vietnam? Or had he had some sort of accident. But then, she'd consider if something had, surely Claudia or Calvin's family would have let them know. Perhaps he'd just forgotten about them for some reason… She sighed, they had never forgotten him for helping to bring them together.

"What's wrong, Ma?" Marty asked, noticing the look on her face.

"Oh nothing in particular, sweetie," she smiled at him, "I was just thinking about an old friend of your father and Is who isn't here today."

"Well, I'm sure they would have come if they could," he told her with a shrug.

She put an arm around his shoulders. "You're right," she told him, "still it would have been something for you to meet him, we named you in his honour after all." She smiled

Marty looked a little uncomfortable for a moment. "You mean the guy who set you two up?"

"He was such a nice boy," Lorraine told him, reminiscing.

"Yeah, you've mentioned that," Marty smiled.

"He disappeared out of our lives for three years before showing up at our wedding and then…he disappeared again." Lorraine sighed. "So strange."

Marty gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, I'm sure he remembers you guys wherever he is."

"Probably somewhere where there isn't in pens, or pencils, or paper," George remarked, taking Lorraine's hand.

Lorraine laughed. "George!"

"Hey, who knows," Marty shrugged.

"Marty's right," George agreed, "and hey maybe he'll show up at our **fiftieth** anniversary instead."

Lorraine laughed again. "Well, that's something to hope for!"

Out the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Marty share a rather odd look with Jennifer.

She wondered at her son's strange behaviour, as she sometimes did these last few years. Sometimes she considered asking him if there was anything wrong, but Marty didn't seem to be bothered for long.

But then she considered something else, and a smile spread across her face.

_Maybe Georgie and I should throw a bouquet and garter tonight,_ she thought after a moment. _So they can be the next to be married!_


End file.
